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The life of the American miner is one of hazardous undertaking and constant danger. When he bids his wife and children good-bye in the morning or at night, or whenever he starts for the mine, he knows not whether he shall ever see them again. The miner of the average mine is overworked and underpaid. The miner in the bituminous coal fields is paid from 20 to 40 per cent higher wages than those doing similar work in the anthracite fields. The fact is that the minimum wage received by any class of adult mine workers in the soft coal mines is 26¼ cents per hour, while the minimum wage paid to boys is 12½ cents per hour. In the anthracite coal mines, men performing, precisely the same labor receive from 13 to 20 cents per hour, while boys are paid as low as 5 cents per hour, and rarely receive more than 8 cents per hour. The bituminous miner works a maximum of eight hours per day, which is two hours less than the men in the anthracite mines are required to work. Moreover, the anthracite mine worker labors under the further disadvantage of being more liable to be killed or injured, the casualties being 50 per cent greater in anthracite than in the bituminous mines. The average miner, whether he be in the anthracite or bituminous coal mine, is a hard worker. Statistics for the year 1897 show that 1,271 tons were mined by each miner, with an increase of 22 tons for 1898 and 98 tons for 1899. The increase was steady until 1901, when the average man mined 1,585 tons of coal. For this amount of coal the miner is paid in the neighborhood of $1.85 per day, or for the number of working days in 1901, $368 per employe, or an average of $7.05 per week. Divide this among a family of from three to six people and what is the result? Poorly clad children and empty stomachs about two-thirds of the time. The miner who is thus paid is compelled to live in small, squalid hovels, which, in many instances, have but two rooms, and not infrequently but one large room, in which are housed a family of six or seven people. The clothing worn by these miners and their families is of the poorest quality imaginable, and very coarse. Their food consists of corn bread, with pork and corned beef for meat. Butter is never heard of, and the poorest grade of oleomargarine is used by them. The "breakerboy" is the stepping stone to a full-fledged miner. Hardly has the boy reached the age of nine years before he is set to work in the big "breakers." This is made necessary by the large families and the cost of living. The average wages paid the "breakerboy" will not exceed 60 cents per day, and are frequently less. The number of days lost by the miners during 1902, when a strike was on, was 20,000,000, as compared with 733,802 in 1901, 4,878,102 in 1900, and 2,124,154 in 1899. The value of the output of coal for 1902 was in the neighborhood of $348,910,469. The foregoing article is the expression of John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers of America. A DAY ON THE FARM WITH THE FARMER
The average size of each of the five million farms in the United States is 146 acres. This small average is due to the 160-acre and 80-acre farms in New England and the south. In the western division there are larger farms than in any other portion of the United States, the average size being 1,000 acres in Oklahoma, western Kansas and Texas. In the Indian Territory the average size of each Indian's holdings is 500 acres. The western division also shows a larger increase in the prices of land than in any other section.
The Indians are given farms of their own and told to go to work. Fifteen thousand Indians were placed on their individual allotments in 1901, and 1,300 farms were given away to white settlers. This rapid settlement of the West means a concentration of farming and ranching interests. The 1,000-acre farms are not being reduced in acreage, but are being turned over to expert managers. In the eastern and middle west states the farmer of to-day has anywhere from 100 to 300 acres of land under cultivation. To spend a day on an American farm is to learn much about where the enormous product comes from which goes to feed the 80,000,000 inhabitants of the United States, in addition to furnishing a considerable part of the food product for the use of foreign nations. The American farmer of to-day, while in many instances not wealthy, is still comfortably well off, and does not have to worry about where the next meal is coming from. He has a few cattle, owns several horses, and can go to town with as fine a turnout as any man of moderate means would desire. The farmer is quite an independent person, and when his work is done for the day, he goes into the house, gets out his country paper and enjoys its contents for an hour or two, smokes his pipe, and when it is time, goes to bed. In the morning he rises early, cares for his stock before breakfast, and when daylight comes, goes forth to work. There was a time when the wages of the farm laborer were considerably more than they are at present. In olden days farm hands were paid $30 and $40 per month and "found." To-day the wages average from $20 to $30, although in many of the western states, during harvest time, the pay for a short period ranges from $2 to $2.50 per day. The farmer of to-day uses all of the modern methods which a few years ago were unknown. He has the latest style of threshing machine; his crops are cut by machinery, and, in fact, it has almost come to pass that his stock is fed by machinery. Roads that in former years were made by hand are to-day "cut" and "graded" by machinery, and so quickly is the work done that really bad roads are fast passing out of mind. Another innovation, the rural mail route service, enables the farmer to have his mail delivered at his house once or twice a day. The farming districts have also been connected with the city by telephone, which brings the American farmer in touch with all the world. These changes are doing much toward keeping the young men upon the farm instead of flocking to the city. BUGS COSTLIER THAN BATTLESHIPS The magnificent warships constructed within the last decade by the United States government and designed to protect our flag against enemies from without, have imposed an enormous burden of expense upon the nation. But our people are ever confronted by insidious foes within, which inflict upon the agricultural interests of the country losses aggregating far more in a single year than the cost of all the battleships built by "Uncle Sam" from time immemorial. These foes and these losses are thus specified:
A DAY WITH THE STOKER ON SHIP-BOARD |
