The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-02-23
MINER Tells OF
HORRORS IN Penn
ANTHRACITE AREA
Long Hours, Hard La
Dor, Poor Pay
(By a Worker Correspondent

tDU u w OThST COTE6S pUtUcbCsJ
HENDERSONVILLE, Pa, by
Mail) Il want to tell The DAILY
WORKER some facts about the
mines. People don't understand that
we have to lay our own tracks and
keep them up all the time so the COM
pany can get their coal out at no
expense to them. The coal operators
don't want it known that they make
the miners push the cars all day long
for which they don't get any pay,
The have to get from three to fifteen
feet of slate back from the face of
the coal so the cutter can get to work
again.
Blowing Up Wages.
I have worked two or three days
already breaking up such slate and
I get nothing for this work and have
rad to use up about six dollars worth
If explosive. The coal company did
not say that was out the six dollars.
Oh, no, that was me. They got their
work done for nothing. But where
was my pay when I got what the
little boy got--nothing.
Pick miners get Sill a ton here
and leaders SIT for ton. How can
we live on this operators scale and
push the cars for nothing and lay
their tracks for them and get their
coal out for them? We also have to
pay for our own tool sharpening and
our lamps cost us six cents a day,
Our powder costs about $1.90 to 50 a
day. The company charges US from
sixty to seventy-five cents for lousy
pick-handle. The company is very
good to us and every lead of coal we
get costs US about ten dollars. And
now they want to break the union so
they can make us load five or six ton
cars for which we will get from one
to three tons.
A Damned Lie!
That hard man Baker of the Pitts
burgh Coal Company said last week
that a miner ought to make from
S400 to 5000 a month. Man never
lived that could go into a coal mine
and make that money. If l could do
that, all I want is five years and
then would have enough for all my
life. would not have to go into the
mines in my old days at sixty-four
years of age. 1t is all a damned lie
Think for yourself how many tons
of coal man would have to load to
make $500 month. When a man
loads ten tons of coal a day after the
machines he knows what he has done
for that days work. ! am here to
tell you that no man can load ter
tons of coal every day or he would
die.
Crippled for Life.
Now I am crippled for life and the
coal company doesn't want me because
/ can't work. was hurt under the
Pittsburgh Coal Co. in 1920 and they
were to give me a light job. But
haven't got it yet so I had to get 6
job somewhere else. The coal com
panies do none of the things for theil
miners that they state in the news
papers. If man gets hurt, he;
thrown into hospital, as soon a,
possible they get him back to worl
again. If they have to pay compen
sation they get it back again in rents
and company taxes. We are taxet
$14 to SIG month for rent and Goa
amounts to $40 a month. They dom
care who lives and who dies. They
are trying to drag US down to where
we started fifty years ago.
had to drive mule for fifty cent.
a day and my father had to mine Goa
for SLIPS a ton and got no money
then. We had to take it all in store
goods We had to live on corn bread
etc. When I think back l would rath
er die than see those days come again
0, my God, I would rather see tn
world come to an end than suffer owe
what we suffered in those days from
those good, loving people, the mas
ters, those poor, innocent, Christian
people starving US by inches.
"a TRUTHFUL OLD MINER y