Where the Women Work in Coal Mines
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THRKK IIKLCIAN (illU.S LOADING HIIK'K.
HKIXIIAN GIRLS I'lSIIING COAL CARS
(CoiiyrlKht, iwi3.
ASM ICS.
by Frank Cl. Curprnli-iM
lli.lilnm lli.P 2:1. ISlK -
ml clal Correspouacnco of Tho Ib-f.)
I 1 am In Mm hrMirl of Ollfi of tilt!
rlc li Ht coiil nilulng regions of Eu
ro 11c HflKlum Is only about
oiu'-thlrd U10 nlzo of Indlanu, but It has
(li)OBlla of coul and Iron which mako it
hum like a boo hlvo. It la tho biwient
workHhop upon this contliu-nt, and It sup
porta about as many pcoplo to the suuarti
ml lu an any country of tho world. Its an
nual product of coal amounts to 22,000,00(1
toim. It uses tho groutrr part of thin at
home, and also Imports fuel from Germany
and KiiKland. At present the people are
looking to the United StatcB us a potulblu
source of manufacturing fuel, and tho duy
may yot come when the iiiIIIh hero will be
largely run through coal from the United
States.
The Belgium mining conditions are en
tirely different from those of our country.
Our mines ure near tho surface, and it
costs but little to gut the coal to tho curs.
Those of Uelglum are far down under the
earth, and every ton has to bo lifted by
machinery to the surface. Soiuo of the
mines which I visited today aro nioro than
a halt mile deep. Tho water has to be
fought at every turn, and mighty pumpn
are employed to keep the works dry. There
are tunnels cutting the earth this way and
that at a depth of 2.000 feet. Over them
are other tunnels, and the while country 1 .4
a catacomb, made by getting out tho coal.
The mines have to be llmberel. The wood
is cut from tho forests nearby, but the moat
of it Is not over six Inches thick, and B4 it
comes to tho mini it looki like telegraph
poles, each fifty feet long, tapering to a
point at the end. Such timber stands In
great stacks about each mine. It Is un
loaded from the cars by women, who ha:idle
the poles like ro many Amazons.
This coal region Is fur different from
those of I'ennsylvanla. Ohio or Tennessee.
There It Is moun'ainous. Mere at Wasmes
the land Is Hat, and the only elevations are
from the dumi of the mines. The coal
here Is Ailed with waste. It has to be
sorted and the refuse Is carried out upon
cars. There la so much of It that a pyra
...i.lul mountain soon rlseB up b side each
.- . s3'
1 is
k - - - ... isn minim '
it
HI
Ml
1
IN WASMES, A nELGIAN MINING TOWN.
from Iti to 20. l'retty girls! rosy cheeked!
round armed and plump, with faces
smutty with coal dust, but at the samo
lime comely! Their eyes are bright and
their beauty Is accentuated by the coal
dust on their fates through which the red
(lames forth like that of the dark miws
rose. They are very tiger lilies set in a
Imckground of black diamouus.
Come with me and let us visit ono of tho
mines. We enter the great work where
the mighty shaft Is Jerking up and down
ruining the coal to tho surface. At the
mouth of the opening stand a half dozen
of these Ilelglan girls, their heads done
up In blue and white handkerchief turbans,
their sleeves rolled up high above the el
bows and their shapely ankles plainly
showing between the end of their skirts
and their white wooden clogs. See them
grasp that car as the engine Btopi aud
shove it over the rails to where it Is to
be dumped for tho Bortera. As they do so
another gang of girls takes tneir places
to handle tho next car and others shoot the
of
and
they are, I
their work.
Uave the shaft and come with me to the
sorters. Tho coal rolls down a chute into
the cars. Women stand at the side of the
chute and help it onward with hoea. Girls
of 14 or 20 sit further down picking the
refuse and slate out of the coal with their
hands. Still furth.r on there aro more
turbaned, bare-armed maidens, sooty and
dirty, working away as ram as meir iingei
mine, standing c ut like a black cone against ..,,, i( 8 t,ai.K to the other aide of the shaft
ih.. blue skv. There are aueh pyramids
Thir is no fooling about this. The women
vervwhere In this part of Uelglum. Some . ... (1 BluJ wtn tn0 Btrength
f 1 In. in re dead, the mliits which produced Knru,-, The" do more than the men
them having been worked out and aban- y uri, j ttm told, more conscientious In
cloned. Others have ladders up their backs
and a Jramc work on the top where women
push the cars along and with a rattling
sound empty them. Some of the pyramids
are smoking. There Is much sulphur In the
coul and spontaneous combustion often
starts a fire which burns on for years. In
ttances are known of people going to sleep
on the dumps nd being suffocated by tho
rimifB and Eases.
Take your stand with me on one 01 mese ca) move anj u the railroad car iiseu,
coal mountains Just outside the mining town n0 w hll.n the coal drops, there are other
of Wasmes and look about you. See tho wonu. hoeing the coal this way and thut,
farms covered wiih rich croi. with these HortlnK (he waste. All tho work is done by
coal mounds rising above them. There Is (he pU,CP( a,i the girls are paid In propor
one at our right with great bug-like bags (lon , ,hl. amount they perform. I asked
crawling over It. Take your field glass and ag t0 ,hl, wag8. and was told that the rate
look at them. They are not bags. They , , rll a t,akot. and that the beat work
are women who are picking up the coal that ,.rg (.an ,,l4.K aUout a basket and a half
has been left In the waste. There comei a ,.v).ry hour, thus earning as much as 30
... U'ltlllltn . , .. t u'lill'd Vlfllirlt
car along me coai iuuunm. - cents 111 meir uj t.i
are pushing It and with the glaia you can
almost see their muscles Bwell as with bare
arms the? cast It on the dump.
Now look at that mound at the left. It
v....ir...ia r,f feet h ith. ana. use inn
or
Is
And still the women miners or neigium
are far better off today than they have
ever been in the paat. Their condition has
been notoriously bad. For a long time lit
tle children were employed in the mlnea.
others about It, K is an ptiucui-b ui rney were iiurueu .. ----
enormous waste that the miners have to wtth stratw and chains so that they
contend with. Kvery bit of coal that Is crawled along on their hands and knees
brought to the surface has to be picked dragging the coal to the mouth ol the
. . .... U evidently more than shaft. Now women under 21 are prohibited
uvrr. nu - -
i 1. ...if by law from working
t h hnir build- hpni'A thotiO whom YOU
ir 1 r 1 , 1 uri v . u - -
underground, and
on the sunace
i,a of the coal workers. They are not un
like those of the United States, but the
scenes about them are different.
In the Uulted States the work Is done al
together bv men. Here most of the labor
above the surface ia performed by women.
And such women! Luaty young girls of
nrA vnunir
wages down below, and many or tnem win
leave the surface work and go Into the
mlnea aa soon aa they are old enough.
Aa a result, the surface glrU are not bent
and broken, and those I saw were aa well
developed physically aa the prize golf plrU
cf the United States. And still they we:e
tolling like so many horses, pushing the
cars this way and that. Some were lifting
great lumps of coal weighing from fifteen
to twenty pounds each, and others were do
ing all sorts of work which in America
would be done by men.
In one place a ditch was being dug and
lined with brick and cement. A girl of
15 was mixing the mortar with a hoe, and
a little further on at a brick pile three
sturdy girls were loading bricks upon a
wheelbarrow, which a fourth girl pushed
upon the car when it was full. They were
working hard, and the perspiration stood
out in white beads upon their dusty faces.
I took a photograph of them, and my heart
came Into my throat as they smiled.
I have said that the women who sort tho
coal earn about 30 cents a day. Some get
less, but there are others who make as
much as 40 cents, and in the mines they
are paid as high as 46 cents. Men miners
get 79 or 80 cents underground, and about
0 cents at the surface. Iloya of 11 and l."
are paid 42 cents, and children about 20
centa and upward. Altogether, there are
124,000 miners In Belgium, and of them all
I doubt whether 10 per cent make $1 a day.
Aud still the Belgian working day avi r
ages from ten to twelve hours, and the
average number of working days every
year is more than 300. Low wages and long
hours are the rule. There are 7.i0,000 work
ing people here, and of these nine-tenths
work ten, eleven or more hours per day.
Of all tho workers one-fourth make less
than 40 centa per day; one-fourth from 40
to 60 cents, and another fourth from "0 to
80 cents per diem.
Women are everywhere paid less than
the men, and about half of the female
workers make less than 30 cents a day,
while In tho whole country of more than
6,000,000. half of whom are women, only
3!5 women get as much as 80 centa a day.
Among the best-paid women here are
those who work underground in tho mines.
The work la hard and degrading. It un
sexes those who are thus working away
day after day In the leml-darkness, and in
time makes them animals. In old age they
are little better than the horsea and don
keya which work with them, and which
stay In the mlnea until they die. Some of
the horsea will live from ten to twenty
yeara after going down underground, but
they become perfectly blind at the end of
three years.
I have been Interested in the life of the
people. Every great mine haa its dwelling
houses built about It, a collection of little
two-story bricks bulit together in block.
Each house has five rooms, two on the
ground floor, two above and a little attic
under the roof. The families are large and
the average number of children la a'x or
seven. The miners are miserably poor.
Nearly every one pays a rent of $1 or $.'
a year for his home, but only the fewest
save money. The people are great drinkers.
In this region every third bouse is a saloon,
and the most of the wages go for drinks.
The people drink alcohol, and the women
drink as well as the men.
Belgium spends more than eight times as
much for liquor as it does for schools, and
the average drink bill is about $5 pi r head,
or $2." per family. I am surprised at the
number of saloons. They are known as
"estaminets," and ycu see them everywhere.
Tin re Is hardly a block in the city w ithout
one or more, and they are scattered along
the country roads. There are more than
200,11110 saloons In Belgium, and it is said
that one person in every thirty of the whole
population Is employed in selling Intoxicat
ing drinks.
Many of the workmen get drunk on Satur
day and lay off over Monday. Similar con
ditions prevail in England, where drunken
ness . If anything, worse than here.
There are a number of workingmen's as
sociations in Belgium. The men have their
trades unions and their co-operative soci
eties. There is ono kind of organization,
known as "Mutualities," which has over
60, mo members. Ther are societies for
mutual help so formed that the members
support each other in times of trouble, pro
viding medical attendance and other such
things.
Many of the societies are protected by the
government, and to some the state gives
subsidies, increasing their funds for med
ical attendance and support in time of sick
ness. The state now has pensions for BUch
workiiigmen of ovi r 6.1 w ho need them and
al-o associations which insure the lives of
workiiigmen at low rates.
Belgium has a ministry of industry ami
laticr which haa to do with matters relat
ing to workiiigmen, and there is also what
is known as the superior council of labor,
organized to consider labor interc.it s and
prepare measures regulating them for pres
entation to parliament. This council is
composed of sixteen workiiigmen, sixtetn
manufacturers and sixteen scientists. It is
said to be of great value to labor Interests
The governments are becoming more and
more paternal In many of ihe Euroean
countries. They are taking the place of a
father to the people and trying to benefit
them in a variety of ways. In Belgium the
state has erected dwellings for working
men In certain localities, and has arranged
so that they can buy them on easy terms.
It is helping the farming interests by
schools of agriculture, and through lis rail
road service is reducing freights and facil
itating Ihe marketing. I have spoken of the
postal arrangements of Switzerland and
France, wreretiy the farmer can
his goods to consumers through the postuf-
flees. Here in Bilgium the government has
put on fast trains for England for the ship
ment of dairy products. It facilitates trade
and it seems to be on the outlook to belji
the producing classes.
I am surprised at the enormous manufac
turing industry of Belgium. The country is
a very beehive of work. It has about 6,000,
(liio people, and fully 7.10,000 of them are at
work making something to sell. The fac
tories are as thick as in the black country
of England, and the land teems with house
Industry. There are about 26,000 work
shops which employ on the average only
three hands each, and an enormous amount
of cotton nnd linen cloth is woven at home.
On the eastern edge of the Belgian coal
field is Liege, which has 17.1,000 people,
and which was built up out of manufac
tures of iron. It is the Sheffield of the
country, making vast quantities of firearms
for home use and export. It has 30,000
workmen, who make nothing but guns, and
most of these work at their own homes.
The manufacturer furnishes the material,
and the workmen take it home and make
the different parts of a gun. One man
may be employed upon locks, another on
barrels, getting from 2 to 3 cents for his
work on eneh gun. It Is only recently that
much machinery has been introduced, and
this is used only with the cheaper kimU
of firearms.
Tarts of guns are also made for export.
We get many of our steel gun barrels from
Liege, and also the Damask gun barrels,
which are made nowhere else in the world.
The secret of making the Damask barrels
is carefully guarded, being handed down
from father to son. Only the most skilled
of the workmen can make these bar
rels. The ordinary rough-bored barrels
are turned out In great quantities; they
cost from 60 to 70 cents nplece, when
ready for export.
When the United States has finally s.'t
tled Its mining troubles our expo;ters can
study the Belgian market with profit. Thl.i
country imports sanielhing like 2,000, 000
tons of coal a year, the most of it earning
from France, Germany and England, and
necessitating comparatively heavy freight
charges. There are six lines of steamers
Bailing between Antwerp anil the United
Stalls, and American coal should be landed
there at low rates. The freight rates of
the present are based upon the grain rates,
and are consequently high.
The Belgium coal will not compare wiih
the best grades of our coal. The anthra
cite here has not the hardness nor bril
liancy of the l'cnnsylvania product, ami it
is lighter in weight. Some of the Belgian
bituminous coal has 7.1 per cent slack, so
that it Is used for the making of briquettes
rather than for export.
Some of the Belgium mines have given
out, and, as the coal prea Is limited, the
country will eventually have to import
more than it does now. Not only here, but
In all parts of Europe there should be a
market for American coal, and if care
fully nursed a business can be built up
which will materially increase the balance
of trade, which Is already In our favor.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Rabbit Hunting
In January, tays Country Life, bunny is
to be found in bramble tangle and close
grown thickets, to be tramped out or run
with beagles. When he Is in mood for a
run he will furnish a lively bit of enter
tainment. Those who love the music of the
hunt find rare pleasure in listening to a
brace of beagles as th-y unravel and bring
to naught all the twists and turns and
clever wiles of bunny. Indeed, not a few
put their dogs in wiih no intention of kill
ing the game, but for the pure delight of
watching and hearing the dogs work. It
sometimes seems as if the rabbit was aware
of iheir peaceful Intentions at these limes,
for he will play about in a small circle for
half an hour or more before holding up,
affording many opportunities to observe
express an, sludy the ways of this long-legged Ut
ile grayeoat. Indeed, he seems to quite
enter into the spirit of Ihe game, and a
delightful winter's afternoon can be thus
snen
V....,.M ere 100 uisiaui tu suppi;.