The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-09-02
WELSH MINERS
LAY ON BACK
WHEN DIGGING
French Writer Describes
Working Conditions


but in most of our fields easy as
compared with some of the mines Of
Wales, as many Of our Welsh brothers
here know. Miners are frequently
compelled to work on their backs in
the mud in some Of the Welsh mines
with 32-inch veins. These conditions
were recently described by a French
writer, Andree Viollis, in "L'Europe
Nouvellen 1t follows in part:
I'VE climbed up to a little platform,
which was as black as inferno Gear
diff, Wales). Above us invisible ma
chinery gTumbled and groaned. To
one side a gigantic wheel was turning,
alternately lifting and thrusting down
the long arm that moved the pumps
Equipped with httle lamps, we enter.
ed black, slippery cage.
Minutes Seemed Hours.
"A big black hole seemed to inhale
us, duringeour dizzy descent, while the
minutes seemed as long as hours. Fin
ally we stopped, thousand feet below
the surface. Ny ears roared, my eyes
smarted, and, quite contrary to my ex-
pectation, / was chilled by an icy
breeze.
Ordinarily six hundred miners get
out of the cage here every morning at
Z o'clock, each with his little pail of
tea and piece of bread. Here they
separate, going down narrow, inter
minable, steeply slOping tunnels,
stumbling over rails to avoid passing
coal trucks. receiving douches of cold
water down their necks, and lodging
falling stones, often OF large size that
are constantly detaching themselves
from the roof above.
Crushed in Front of Him.
MY first day in the mine, when
was IA years old" said my companion,
"a man was crushed Immediately in
front of me- I turned around and ran
back to the cage like a crazy rabbit"
when we left the cage l was chilly,
but as we advanced down the gallery
we kept getting lower and opening
and shutting doors, and the galleries
themselves grew narrower and lower.
The air became thin, with a heavy
tarlike odor. We had to bend half
over to avoid hitting the roof Soon
1 was painting like a ash out Of water,
and I saw the perspiration tracing
pale streaks down the oeal black faces
of my companions.
Walked Three Miles.
1T was a walk of two or three miles
= to -se coax veins. As we painfully
made our way forward my companions
explained to me how the trans were
Unanswered. how the timbering was
put up, and when we finally did reach
the glistening face, how the coal was
undercut with a pick. l cut out my
little piece of coal just to qualify as
a miner.
''In certain veins you can sit up, but
this one is only thirty-two inches high,
and the miner has to work lying on
his back in the mud-for six hours
steady in the noise and the dust.
Loved Their Trade.
Nevertheless, could see that these
men loved their rude trade. How af-
fectionately they spoke Of it! How
proudly they pointed out fine piece
of timbering or a we'll arched gallery
They patted the smooth blocks of coal
as affectionately as a peasant pats his
COW.
"As for the dangers, they scorned
them. Nevertheless, they will admit
that on an average twelve hundred
men are killed in the British coal
mines every year, without counting
the big catastrophies.
'T noticed also that my two mine
leader companions were vigilantly OBJ
servant every moment. There had not
been a single act Of sabotage. The
pumps were working; the mine was
ready to start tomorrow.
Mice and Ponies
81 saw few horses still down below
plump. shiny animals with little
black mice scampering around their
feet. When we were going up, Mr..
Jones said But you ought to have
,een the others when we took them
top. They rolled in the grass with
cir forefeet in the afr as If they had
gone crazy
"a "And / could understand IL. I had
been down three hours, but II seemed
three centuries.
"On our return, saturated with per-
spiraton. the cold breeze chilled US to
the bone. thought o myself how the
miners had to trudge back home in
the winter, often some distance. IN
their dirty, wet garments. For these
mines have no baths or drying rooms,
such as are provided in America and
Germany and in most OF the mines in
France. Is IL surprising, then, that so
many miners are old and out OF the
running at 50?"