Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-12
BY ROGER BATCHELDER.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


Special Dispatch to The Star
CEDAR GROVE. Pa. July IL
When the Governor of Pennsylvania.
in the soft coal mine regions were
starving. Dan Lane became hopeful
that a portrayal Of the real conditions
would surely bring relief.
Dan Is an intelligent colored miner.
but there is no color line in the coal
Ss.ieus ~ migrated here Is years
$50 nom Virginia to work the mines.
BY general consent he has been placed
in charge of the relief camp of the Ma
tional Miners Union. which cares for
1913 men, women and children, the
The elevator no longer goes down
the dark shaft, except for the times
when the watchmen and bumpers must
go below. In the little village. stodgily
and dustily located in the hills Of
Washington County. 400 men are out of
work.
Dan called Mrs. Dan" to see how
matters stood. and the mistress Of the
cooking department. mother of four
children two of whom are sick and
undernourished, got the key to the
eommissary.
Food Is Scarce.
Not 50 bad" she said. philosophy
callv, and not altogether good"
She had opened a wooden door in
barrack structure and considered the
larder. Outside, hungry men were
walking about nervously; children, ex
hausted by weeping, stood stolidly; and
women were hurrying for the driftwocd
of the nearby woodlands in case there
might be something for them to cook in
their iron stoves
Mrs. Lane was complacent as she
looked under the counter Of the bare
room.
1T should be better tomorrow" she
ventured. because we have just had
a load of 81 cans Of soup, and that
have IL big loaveS of bread. In the MORN
ing, something else may show up, and
I'll divide the best way ! can"
Mrs. Dan had a baby girl IN her
arms, Marie, Is months. Marie has
never known cows milk, and has never
spoken nor walked. She is undernour-
ished and she seemed to be very i'll.
This morning she had black bread
soaked in water, so that her teeth.
which are not coming along any too
well, wouldn't be hurt.
Children Are Sick.
The Oldest boy is pretty sick, too"
said Mrs. Lane. land they had him in
a Pittsburgh hospital until the time
for free patients was up. The other
two, who were born outside the coal
places, don't mind being hungry"
Two wide-eyed children were on the
rickety steps, looking at the man who
had arrived in an automobile. Just
across the road was a car that had
been there for four years because the
owner had found it impossible to buy
automobile plates.
The baby coughed dismally, and the
with a childish resignation.
White men, who were in the vast
majority. came ambling into the room
with forced casualness. These men
have not been away from the mine
for months, most of them, and while
they asked no questions. they were
eager to pick up word Of the great
world outside. In few minutes, the
word has passed around that stran-
ger was seeking information regarding
conditions and 20 men gathered, anxi-
Gus to be questioned.
Children trooped along outside, afraid
to come in, 1t was said, because there
might be trouble with the man who
possibly had something to do with the
COMPANY"
Receipts Tell Story.
sheaths of receipts from the mining
companies were proffered in quiet
fashion. They told the miners story.
I'm Luther Williams" said a stocky
young man in Coverdale. land it's
fortunate that I've been single. I've
been around the mines for IL years
and in mine No. since 1927.
When I started out I was making
$l.0l for pick coal by the ton, but the
cuts came until We came down to As
cents a ton. We we're never notified
about the cut until pay day CINE. I
haven't bought a suit Of clothes fer
three years, and what have has come
from my friends When the strike
came, I was $50 in the hole on the
williams showed receipts from the
company off1ces Ct the Pittsburgh
Terminal Coal Corporation. a dozen of
them, disclosing that in two-week
periods he had made from $40 to SIS.
and that in every case the company's
bill rendered to him was exactly to the
cent Of the same amount. On Decem-
Der Is, for instance, after he had
worked since the first of the month,
deficit with the company was precisely
Sl2.82. On February % of this year.
he earned $l1.18, according to the
half-monthly record. and was charged
with $l1l8, unitemiZed.
Wages and Bills Balance.
Richard Ford, with five children,
working for the same company, in
Mine No. 9, had credits of $l2.40,
sl772 and sl6.85. with debts of exactly
the same amount: and John B. Char
lier, with the Carnegie Coal Co., passed
on che of his receipts, which showed
him overdrawn. At the bottom of most
OF these slips were crosses, which are
kisses" in mining parlance. or line.
which means no money, and Is called
q snake"
That's why we can't feed our chill
dren," said Lane. And I'll give you
the figures. I averaged $12 a week.
Out Ct that come 81 for the doctor, so
cents for sick insurance, and IS for
rent for two months, carbide for my
miners lamp, $l.85 a month: powder,
rs cents; 8 cents for rubber for my
lamp. I have to buy shoes every 80
days with rubber soles that est $3.50,
and must pay SIS yearly for tools.
In the Winter I pay 1915 a ton for
coal that I mine for A cents.
Seldom Get Cash.
Then there are head and school
taxes every year, amounting to $14.65
and taken cut of my salary by the COM
pany," continued Lane. IF there is a
complaint against the unitemized bill,
you are fired"
The mines rarely hand out cash, be-
cause the men have not gotten far
enough ahead to warrant a consider
able sum. But they have tokens, good
at the company stores.
In o group this afternoon, some of
them were requested for inspection
The r:en were silent; they didn't have
them and the children had no banks
from which they could be extracted.
Finally one OF the men had an idea.
He came in five minutes later, drag
ging q rather suspicious miner, who