Evening star., 1941-11-23

succeeds in making a huge map look
black and blue however, the bootleg
coal problem will be solved
These men, selected by the operators.
a union and the State, have the task
of doing away With the noneycomb of
illegal coal holes without throwing the
miners on relief.
They work on definite plan for
some day abolishing bootlegging. Prog
ress Of their work is charted on that big
map in the Offices OF the Anthracite
Emergency Committee.
Every time bootleg hole peters out
OF coal black pin goes on the map,
replacing one of another color. When
a coal company closes a bootleg hole on
its property blue pin is inserted.
when that map is black and blue
we're finished" says r. Y. Williams. g.
year-old consulting engineer selected by
the operators.
First steps were taken year ago with
Gov. Arthur H. James backing I'D the
operators and the United Mine Workers
Of America. The first complete survey
showed:
All bootlegglng occurred in what is
known as the lower anthracite fields
Schuylkill and Northumberland Counties
where the veins outcrop frequently and
The coal is easy to get at.
There were 10,40l men working In
Zoos makeshift holes If the program
continues on basis of blowing shut the
new holes as soon as they are opened
bootlegging should end when the old
holes are mined out-thsts the theory
behind the plan
The practical accomplishment is some
time on. For example, Tim A. RYAN,
veteran mine inspector for the State in
this section, estimates some of the bigger
holes will not peter out for 10 years.
Ryan has watched bootIegging grow
from the beginning The first hole he
saw was inside shanty.
"They were more careful in those
days." he says.
That was in 1880. when the big mines
started to close and the depression hit
the coal fields with full force. Men who
never had earned living at anything
but digging coal turned to their one vo-
cation to keep off relief.
They dug crude shafts, propped tun-
nels with stolen timber, scraped together
powder and dynamite caps and piled
their trade. They built little coal cars.
sometimes using the wheels Of baby car
riages and anything fit to haul out the
coal.
The people around, the bootlegger s
family and his friends, saw no fault with
the practice.
where else can the man make a liv-
lng?" they would say. This feeling
reached into every phase Of the region S
economic life.
Here's the way many miners size up
the situation through the years:
l. Operators failed to prevent the Oil
industry from forging to the front as
factor in heating homes.
g. Landowners refused to cut down
royalty payments so coal could be pro-
duced more cheaply and compete with
other fuels.
3. Miners out of jobs declined to move
out of the region, which has little in
the way Of industry. For such men it
was job in the mines or idleness.
4. Railroads said their freight rates
could stand no reduction to make the
coal cheaper.
5. Strikes in the 1920s in this area
gave oil a chance to move into the coal
markets.
The bootlegger usually is big, strong
fellow who doesn't mind working hard at
a dangerous job. No compensation laws
cover him or his family when he dies in
a cave-in-and many of them do.
He'll take job in a regular mine-just
offer it-but shut his workings without
giving him a job, and there's sure to
be trouble.
The operator is up against similar
problem-he has to eat, too. He spends
money for safety devices, for care OF his
employees, taxes. compensation insurance
all those overhead items the bootlegger
doesn't worry about. Then the operator
must compete in the open market with
. stolen product-sometmes stolen from
his own land