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| How Pennsylvania Coal |
I Miners Work and Live. I
I U5
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¥OST people going for the
first time into the region
of the great anthracite
mines would at once put
the mine workers and their families In
a class apart from the ordinary human
beings, writes Paul Latzlce, in the De
troit Free Tress. The newspaper ac
counts have paved the way for this,
and the appearance of the men and
boys in their working outfit clinches
the impression. No other body of
laborers in the world carry such
strong external evidences of their vo
cation. From the top of their heads,
where their mining lamps flare from
Ihe peaks of their queer shaped caps,
to their feet, shod with great, grimy,
thick-soled, clamping boots, the mine
workers bear the obtrusive stamp of
their trade. They look uncanny, fierce.
Take the most mild mannered and in
offensive little man that lives, clothe
him in the miners' regalia, let him
hammer for eight or ten hours under
ground, and he will come up a fear
some object. The most courageous
woman from the outside world would
run from such a man at the least
demonstration. Should she unexpect
edly meet him at dark on a lonel.v road,
having never seen a miner before, she
would probably have an attack of
hysteria.
The faces of the men are hard and
seamed and sallow, and, thick with
coal dust, they are almost less than
human to the unaccustomed gaze.
Their eyes are outlined with crows'
feet, no matter how young they may
be, and they have a peculiar squinting
look, due to their constant working in
the half gloom of the coal tunnels. It
is recorded of some of the mules that
pull coal cars in the mines, that, hav
ing worked for years under ground
without once coming up, they have
gone instantly blind, on being exposed
to the daylight. In a measure it is so
with the men r.nd boys who spend
their working hours day after day
underground. The daylight gives
them an uncomfortable sensation, and
they acquire the habit of screwing up
their eyes that finally affects all the
muscles of the face.
It is owing to these strongly marked
peculiarities that the mine workers
are put down at first by uewspaper
correspondents and writers in the dis
trict as something apart. Even the
trained observer requires some time
to accustom himself to their striking
appearance and to realize that after
all these men are like other men, and
that their women, though they have
absorbed many of the characteristics
of the men, are like other women. It
is not until he has spent a little time
among the miners that he comes to re
gard them as ordinary workmen. On
a Sunday or holiday <vith the grime
washed off their faces, their mining
lamps hung away, their working
clothes removed, the men look an en
tirely different lot of human beings.
Then it is only by their crows' feet
ONE OF THE COMPANY STOKES.
and the paleness of their skins, due
to their underground life, that they
are to lie recognized. The first time
I ever saw a considerable body oft lie
miners together was a Sunday mass
meeting before the big strike was
called. I was amazed at the uniike
ness to their pictured appearance. For
all that any one could have told the
mass meeting might have been at
Cooper Union in New York. The only
difference was that most of the men
—and women, too, for there were lots
of women In the crowd—were much
better dressed than the crowd that
A UItOUP OK MILUKKIL UOYH AT HIK MOUIII OK A COI.I.IEBY INOUNII
turn out ut Coo|x>r I'nlon inns* mci-i
ins*.
If tin' ralncra ami nniir talmrera were
eugiiijeil 'ii work of nn ordinary char
acter, no out* would thluk of iintting
them down as being underpaid as a
class. Compared with other forms
of work, mining, even in its highest
form, is little more than unskilled
labor, and the scale of prices may
seem high. But in determining the
earnings of miners as compared with
the earnings of other laborers, a num
ber of things are to be taken into con
sideration. The character of their
work is extra hazardous. Every time
a man goes down the shaft he puts
himself at the mercy of all sorts of
dangers over which he has no control.
Gas explosions, a "squeeze," the fall
ing of a mass of coal, and a dozen
other things menace his life every 1110-
t'YVTHER/'
TYpIcAL • Hol"\E T-oF • A y
Pennsylvania rMNEiv -
ment that he is underground. And so
shrewdly have the operators managed
that the financial penalty for an ac
cident never falls on them. In almost
any other pursuit in which an em
ploye is killed his family has a chance
of claiming damages. In the coal
mines no one ever dreams of putting
in such a claim as a legal right. Many
diligent inquiries I made to find a case
where a coal operator had been
mulcted in damages, for injury and
loss of life, but none could be found.
A TYPICAL BREAKER IN THE COAL MIN
ING REGIONS.
There was a hazy story that an un
known operator had once paid the
family of an unknown driver boy, who
was killed, 975. But this case could
not be traced within the time at th°
ordinary man's disposal. Most of too
operators make some sort of repara
tion by furnishing special employment
about the works to the men crippled
in their employ, and where the father
is killed a place is generally found
for the boys if there are any in the
family. But such a tiling as a cash
settlement is never dreamed of.
The little chance that the miners;
had in this direction was skillfully
taken from them by a piece of legis
lation that was passed, "in the inter
est of miners" and that was hailed
with joy by the men at that time.
This was the creation of county ex
amining boards, to insure miners'
licenses. Without such license no
man can mine coal. The men foolish
ly thought that this would protect
them from unskilled competition, and
especially from the competition of the
foreigners that were pouring Into the
region. They soon found, however,
that the protection didn't protect. The
county boards are paid a fee for each
IICPIIMC tliey laauc. Naturally county
politician* arc not going to work
agaln»t tbejr own politic* I <y rcfualug
llceuaca to nifti prepared to pay for
th« luxury. Mo the "ll.enae" ha* d»
generated Into a faree. In so far as ft
serves ns a protection against com
petition, and'danger from the presence
of poor workmen. But for the operat
ing companies the measure has proved
a great thing. By employing only
"licensed" miners they are released
legally from all responsibility for ac
cidents. If a miner is burled under
tons of coal and rock when he is at
work, the fault is his own. If the la
borer working at his sid# Is also killed,
the laborer's relatives may look to the
family of the "licensed" miner for
damages, but not to the operator. If
there is an explosion of gas, the miner
in whose chamber it occurs Is the re
sponsible party.
The operator hired him on the
strength of his license, the possession
of which presupposes that the man
knows all about gas. and how to get
away from the chambers where It lies
before it accumulates in dangerous
quantities.
The "fire boss" who Inspects the mine
every morning for gas on behalf of
the operator warns tlio miners as
they so in when gas may be expected
and it is up to the miners to avoid ex
plosions. Tliis is what the "license" i
has done for the men.
"Mother" Mary .Tones, "queen of the
mines" and the idol of the miners, i
occupies a unique place in the world of
labor. Tills kind-hearted, philan
thropic woman is so loved by the
rough delvers of the coal mines in the :
anthracite regions that with them her j
word is tantamount to law. Mrs. >
.lones is fifty-six years old, silver
haired and beautiful. Her voice has
been sweetly eloquent in behalf of
the workers whose cause she has
adopted, and her appeals have won
unstinted sympathy for her simple,
hard laboring friends. She lives at
Wilkesbarre.
.
New >'urpory Cnroimel.
If the invention shown in this illus. '
(ration does not serve to give the
children many hours of thorough en
joyment then we miss our guess. Al
most every child is ready to ride on a
merry-go-round as often as invited,
and with this machine set up in'the
nursery the invitation can be given •
many times a day without squander
ing a nickel. The inventor's intention
fo have one of the older children pro
rt-1 the carousel by means of pedals
located as shown. The scats are ad
justable,. in order that children of
different ages may be accommodated,
—.......
>— ■ 1 ■■!■»■ I
•'DOMESTIC" MERRY-00-norND.
and the baskets were for the babies. !
The vertical post is pivoted in stand- j
ards secured to the ceiling and floor, '
and the horizontal arms are rigidly :
attached to this central post. The
pedal shaft is connected to a shaft |
parallel to the supporting arm by a j
dm I n or cord running over the pulleys, i
and power is thus transmitted from !
the pedals to the Inner enil of the shaft, 1
where a gear wheel meshes with a
toothed disk attached to the standard, i
the revolution of the shaft driving the j
machine around.
High I.lffhtft.
Weak coffee often nerves a man '
sr.lliclently not to tip the waiter.
other people's blunders either edu
< .■! ic its or make UH more conceited. j
< loot I luck is simply having the (
agility to get on a car that i* golug
your way.
The cheerful life is like all other
ciitcrtulnnieiits; we have to seek -It |
out and pay to get In.
We like the people who don't put j
mi too intii'li style and the people who I
tloll't put on too little.
When we try to blame other people ,
for our mistakes we UHtially get hold
of the wrong person.
I'lillte people are those who Helen
to IIK \\ liili' we talk about something j
they have »o earthly interest in. j
It is well occasionally to put your* |
- 'lf In the other man's place, even If ;
.Villi feel yourself ttMi blu to lie a guwl 1
tit. fhl'-auo lb-cord.
In tU* private schools of China a j
leariisr Is |xtid ab tut ouu halfpenny a |
day for each pupU. j
SILK FROM THE SPIDER.
A Beautiful Golden Threa<l Taken From
Mailagiincnr Insect*.
| A French writer, who recently paid
a visit to Tananarive, 011 the Island of
Madagascar where the web of the
spider is utilized to produce silk, se
cured some very Interesting photo
pppfaaw
vmmmm
n 112
! SILK SPIDER IN THE GUILLOTINE.
| graphs of the operation, cuts from
! which are shown herewith. The In
| sects are brought from the country in
j light baskets by Mala gash women on
j the day upon which the silk is to be
i reeled, and placed in a frame In groups
I of one or two dozen. It is important
I not to mutilate or wound them during
j the operation, since they are capable
' of being submitted to four or five suc
cessive reelings In a mouth, represent
ing about four thousand yards of
I thread. At the School of Tananarive
I the idea has occurred to place the
j spiders in what are called "guillo
i tines," the crescents ot' which hold
; them between the abdomen and corse
' let. Their legs are turned back upon
i the corselet and their abdomen
I emerges from the side 011 which the
unwinding and twisting of the thread
' is done.
| The Malagash girls, in performing
j this delicate operation, touch the end
| of the abdomen of the prisoners with
I the finger and then gently withdraw
j the' latter, thus carrying along, in a
! single bundle, the twelve or twenty
four "•-ends to a liook that unites
them a single one, whence they
KEEI,INO THE SPIDEK THREAD.
afterward start for the bobbin upon
which they are to be wound.
The spiders thus undergo a com
plete reeling without resistance, an«l
when they are "empty" they are re.
placed by others. Those which liavo
been operated upon are placed for cou
j valescence in a "park" constructed
i for the purpose and consisting of bain
-1 boo planted in the ground and con
| nected by strings so as to form trellises.
After a few days' rest in these they
are taken out in order to be submit
ted to another reeling. The silk is o*
a wonderful golden color.
Tlilcklre Frozen ltiiptdly.
In the illustration is shown an ap
paratus which will aid materially in
tlie formation of ice 011 a small lake.
It is well known that when a body
of water starts to freeze 011 the sur
face the latmt heat of congelation is
liberated into the water underneath,
thus retarding tlie freezing process and
often preventing the formation of ice
beyond a certain depth. In localities
where the temperature seldom falls
much below the freezing point it is
difficult to obtain a good crop of ice
I by natural methods, in which case
1 tills machine will be found useful. The
apparatus is so arranged that it will
I withdraw the water from beneath the
thin sheet of ice, cool it.and return it
at the opposite side of the pond. The
j sluice through which the water passes
is provided at intervals with planks
set obliquely, to stir the water and
extract the latent heat. The water
i re-enters the pond in a very thin
I sheet directly under the ice for-
I illation, and being now of u low tem-
I perature freezes rapidly, the Inventor
| claiming that a crop of ten or twelve-
J FACILITATING TnE FOKMATION OF ICE.
| Inch Ice can be harvested several
| 1 Inn's a year with the aid of the ap
l pa nit us. In the cut ail endless chain
! elevator is shown In the act of feed
; ing the waste Ice Into the returning
1 it ream of water at the rear of the dam,
! thus further aiding iu the cooling
; process.
Ilruinmioul flMtll
: Druinnioud t'nstle is oue of the tin
I est and inner picturesque country
seat* in ({real Britain. The house, the
; oldest part of which dates from 141*1,
was rebuilt during the la»t century 111
j excellent taste, and it contains a tine
! collation of family and historical pur
| trait*. The terrace and gardens, de
j scribed by Mr. diaries (irelivlllc as
"fabulous," were originally laid out
1 by John, Karl of l'erih. who died in
1 ItMKi, and they extend over ten acres.
I alld comprise the best features of the
1 French. 1 Mitch and Italian styles The
j ensile Is approarhed by a magnificent
I avenue of heeclie* and lliue*.— London
Truth.
Harvesting Onion*.
It is the general custom to allow on
ion tops to die down of themselves be«
fore harvesting. Some growers bend
them to the ground, but thera is really
no advantage in this and simply makes
extra work. After the tops have thor
oughly cured, or earlier if necessary,
the onions may be dug, sorted and
dried ready for market or for winter
storage.
Keeping Hay In the Burn.
Hay stored In the barn will keep
In much better condition than when
put up In stacks. It is almost impos
sible to escape loss by exposure in
stacks, although a large proportion of
the hay intended for early use is kept
in that manner. Damaged hay will b'
wasted by the animals, and there Is
also a loss of the constituent elements
! of the hay when exposed.
Wa.hlng Seed Wheat.
! An experienced grain grower says:
i "Take a common washtub about two
! thirds full of water, and pour into it
half a bushel of wheat, and after stir
] ring with a stick skim or pour off what
1 rises on the water, taking care not to
' let the good grain run out; then empty
' into n basket or some vessel that will
i retain the wheat, and drain off the wa
! ter; put it 011 a clean floor and sift or
i sprinkle onto it about a peck of dry
I ashes, stirring it over thoroughly so
' as to cover all the grains with the asli
' es, and set .-ing the whole quantity to
j lie sown in the same way.
| "After it lias lain a few hours it will
be ready for sowing. It has proved a
; sure preventive in every case of trial
i with me, but when it has been omitted
! there has been plenty of smutty grain."
Jiitiftlnc Squabs.
! Nothing is nicer for an invalid or n
1 little child's appetite than a nice fat
young pigeon, especially in cold winter
time, when young chickens are scarce,
and you are not convenient to markets
! where such things can ba purchased.
111 the state of Maine where select
! varieties of pigeons are raised, superi
| or young birds bring as high as 20
, or 30 cents at five weeks old In scarce
' times. They are shipped with feathers
! on.the same as game birds, and are
j killed by bleeding in the mouth,
i Pigeons are extremely prolific in the
South, and if properly housed, watered
' and fed. they arc easily raised. Rais
ing squabs might lie made a valuable
\ crop, if proper pains Is taken. With
-1 out proper attention nothing ever
; yields a prolific revenue in money.
The l'»e of Water in Churning.
j If the milk has been properly man
aged and the cream kept 24 to nil hours
at a temperature of GO degrees until
it is slightly acid, 110 addition of water
will be required, as a rule. The but
! ter should come in about .'SO minut's.
i The normal temperature for churning
I cream is (50 to 02 degrees, but this may
vary with the weather. In winter 05
or TO degrees may be permitted and in
hot weather .">.*> degrees may be right.
In case of difficulty, in either direction,
j water, cold or warmed, as the condi
tion of the cream may need, may be
added to the cream In the churn to re
move the trouble. When the cream Is
1 too sour and is thick and adhesive, and
foams in the churn, the addition of
water is sufficient to obviate the
impediment to the chruning, by thin
ning the mass and reducing its vis
cosity.
The l>eptli to Plow.
A man said to the writer the other
day that farmers plow too deep. This
' was news to us. We have often said
farmers plow too much, but we have
the first man to find who plows too
deep to suit us. It can be done, per
haps. but very few, to our notion, plow
too deep. This man contends that four
inches is deep enough to plow in this
country. He finds this about right 011
his farm. He may have the right idea
so far as his farm is concerned, for he
keeps 200 or more sheep on half
1 as many acres and feeds them all
■ his*farm produces anil some besides,
i In this way the upper four inches of
! his soil are kept rich and productive.
But if iie had no sheep and had only
j a half dozen head of cattle, 30 to! 0
; hogs and four horses and would rals;>
grain and hay for sale he would, in a
few years, go below the four inches
j to find another farm to wear out. just
1 as the rest of us are doing. We are
wearing out from six to eight Inches
by turning one side of it up this year
anil farming It and then next year
turn up the other side and so on until
a poor man owns his poor farm or a
partnership is formed with the banker
with the shctlfr acting as middleman
In making the conveyance*.- -Farmer's
1 (iu hie.
A lllnt to American AplnrltL.
Beginners In beekeep'tig should re
member that the modern hive with Its
eight frame* is really but half a hive,
and soun times not more than one
quartcr. 1 >ui'litg winter the bees for
warmth can gather together into the
lower story, and the rest of the hive
can be taken away, but as the family
increases In the sprtug and begins to
More up honey they must have more
room or some of them must novo
nwnjr or swurui. If we had but one
good colony of bees we should want
an empty hive and 11 bout *li suiplu*
bote*, each provided with frame* ot
j section* for comb lion*), We would
try to use the surjiKi* ooxes so that not
more than one swarm would issue, and
we should expect In a pood season to
have soir.e of the surplus boxes well
tilled, and it might be that some would
be tilled more than once if we gave
them frames and sections provided
with full sheets of foundation, and
stimulated brood raising in the spring
by a little judicious feeding. We would
thus try to have strong colonies that
bee-moths, ants and other insects or
robber bees would not molest, as we
would not leave any place where they
could get into hive or super excepting
the regular entrance which the bees
would guard.
Milk and Dlirnse Germ*.
One class of bacteria producing hu
man disease pass directly from sick
cows into the milk. Tuberculosis is an
example of this class, and a tubercu
lous cow may, under certain circum
stances, contaminate her milk with the
tubercle bacillus; but this seldom oc
curs unless the disease has attacked
the udder, or unless It has reached its
last stages. These bacilli may give
rise to the disease in a human being if
the milk is used. It may occasionally
happen that scarlet fever and dlpth
; therla arise from milk contaminate d
I with the germs of those diseases.
In another class of diseases the
perms find their way into the milk
from some outside source. Typhoid
fever is a most common example of
this class. The germ grows vitli great
readiness in milk, and if a few of them
get into a milk supply, they may niul
j tiply so rapidly as to distribute the
| disease over a whole community and
i produce an epidemic. The milk may
i be contaminated by handling the mills
I or milk cans by those who have come
! in contact with the disease. Impure
■ water is a more common source of eon
j tamination. On milk farms where
there has been a case of typhoid fever,
boiled water only should be used for
• rinsing the milk cans.
In summer it sometimes happens
: that bowel diseases are produced by
abundance of bacteria in milk. The
preventives are cleanliness and low
temperature. Beyond much doubt a
considerable part of the bowel diseases,
especially of children, is directly trace
able to milk coming from cows with
inflamed or diseased udders.
In general, if the dairyman wishes
to avoid danger of distributing dis
| ease in his milk he must adopt four
rules: Never allow milk to enter the
j milk supply if it comes from an animal
suffering from any kind of a diseased
udder; never allow any person having
any contact with or recovering from
typhoid fever, scarlet fever or dipth
theria to have anything to do with the
dairy; always insist upon cleanliness
In dairy matters and the application of
cold to the milk to prevent bacterial
1 growth: rinse the cans with water
; from reliable sources or with boiled
water.—Professor W. 11. Conn, iu
American Agriculturist
IlnrvefttiiiK Sweet I'otntofl#,
Where sweet potatoes are grown for
stock, the Texas experiment statlou
" suggests that cattle may be turned in
1 to eat tiie tops and vines and after
wards hogs may lie allowed to harvest
the tubers. In this way the entire crop
will be utilized at the smallest cost.
If the crop is to lie dug. it is impor
tant to determine when the potato is
ripe. If when the tuber is cut, the
sliced surface partially heals and be
comes dry the crop is ready to be har
vested, but if the cut place turns
greenish black the tuber is not mature.
The crop should be harvested with a
breaking plow, using a roller coulter
to cut the vines. P.ruisi d tubers should
| be used at once, as soft rot is very
j liable to set in. Where the vines are
! to be stored for stock feed, tlie Ar
kansas station recommends that they
be put Into a silo, as they do not cure
readily into hay.
The preservation of sweet potatoes
j has been studied by several of the
| stations. Iu Georgia the potatoes were
stored in a pit Nov. 23, and all but "
per cent, were sound April I. The
I sound potatoes were in excellent condl
| tion, not sprouted, and when sampled
on the table, of excellent quality. At
' the New York station tuli-rs packed In
dry road dust and kept at a temperature
of 00 degrees, continued tit for the
table until after the middle of January.
, At the South Carolina station experi
ments were made iu keeping sweet p<>-
tatocs packed with various materials
in barrels. The materials used were
! sand, cottonseed, cotton hulls, dam
aged lint cotton, wheat bran, news
paper and hny. I>ry sand and cotton
hulls gave the best results. Wrapping
each potato in paper Induced rapid
decay, but a double lining of paper
next the barrel was fairly effective in
keeping out cold and preventing rot.
The keeping qualities of larjje and
small tubers appeared about equal.
The Texas station reports that good
results have been obtained by letting
1 tubers remain In the ground until
wanted. Throwing dirt over them
with a turning plow will prevent
freezing. If the potatoes are to be
stored, they should l>e allowed to dry
about two weeks and then carefully
sorted. They should then be stored Iu
dry road sand In a ventilated house.
The sand should lie changed each year
as It will become Infected with Mark
rot. The sand proved a sufficient pro
tection agrnlnst in'ee, and potatoes kept
well by tills me >od evell when the
winter temperature went down to
within 7 decrees of zero.
A Chinese plow is it light nffalr
made ot a crooked stick, with a steel
puint fastened to It.and la pulled by
1 a water buffalo.