SATURDAY, DECEMBER ad 919 7 i i | | | 2 How This Necessary Com: modity Brings Happiness To Our Homes -- Its Origin ,and Mining. =30yright, 1019, The Interoationa! Syndicate. NE of the essential materials in our commercial life Is Without it our entire Industrial fabric would be paralyzed. Its importance is evidenced by the great public concern which arises every time a strike In the coal mines is agitated. It touches every part of sur social life, the home as well as the factory. and its scarcity is felt in every walk of life. It is for that reason that public opinion is thor- oughly aroused whenever there is a probability that the quantity of coal will fall short of the demands of trade. : Hard Problem The labor required for coal mining is a tremendous draft' upon vitality and the conditions under which the work is performed Is necessarfly dis- agreeable and dangerous, aithough our Government has spent thousands of | { primitive manner and as the people | But it must be done: the con-| knew lttle of its chemical properties | It seems | mined for sale at some difficulty In measuring with any | Newcastle, England. and in 1325 was| degres of accuracy just what is a exported. Gradusily colleries sprang ine "pit's eye" is lined with brick toler under up In various parts of the world and! and from dollars in making it as safe as pos- sible. ditions of danger and unpleasantness eannot all be eliminated and there is proper wage for the ground in the mines, and each' time the problem seems solved for a short time only. The greater part of the men engaged in this industry are foreigners. many of them speaking no Boglish which makes arbitration or reasoning with them next to impos- able. Many ages ago wood was man's only fuel. As the years passed by the aumbef of people Increased and men cut down thé trees as If the supply! gine house with a ponderous drum and | dents have occurred. Nature, twmiwvever, | innumerable colls of wire rope to send [used in most of the mines In the was not idle and ages and ages ago {the miners down and to draw up fhe | United States. she deposited beds of coal. in every [coal and workmen to the surface ! qidrter of the globe and today they There is another engine which is used | head level" and its sides and roof are would pever fail } ! history when wide | swamps occupied the sites of the great ! coal. | the | : Mere {the human race. Origin | In a period far back In the earth's jungles and vast { industrial centers of the world | trees and plants became decomposed. {| As time went on the swamps filled up | with sand and other substances and {sunk below the level of the sea. | to follow the way of the first. In this way step by step coal was formed {and may be regarded as a mineralized | fossil, as roots and branches of trees | are still found in the coal beds. {beds are found at irregular intervals | among sandstone and clay and' vary | in thickness. | It is not definitely known which na- | tion first took advantage of this un- | derground fuel but it is generally be- lHevedP hat it was used at aWery re- | mote period of antiquity as coal ashes { have been found in among old Roman antiques, it was first mined and in a most {there were many accidents. | that it. was first i the miners safety lamp was invented which has had many improvements since, but is still the miners Hght when digging: in his subterranean chamber for the "black diamonds" How Mined ' A trip into the underground modern coal mine is most exciting and gives one a better appreciation of the work | done by the men and its disagreeabl features. Every mine contains an en- * afford light and heat to millions of 'to keep the mine free from water. In| | time another forest was formed only | 5 f The | THE DAILY BRITISH ---- {ia is a deep hole like a great f except it is very much lower in some well in the highway from the bank | places than in others. There are sort {as the pit mouth to the Wine is called. | of caves in the sides of the wall in Every mine must have two of these | many places known as "refuge holes." shafts and a circulation of alr very | These are for the mien to get out of ke that of the blood in the the way whén a truck of coal is pass: One shaft is used to [ing to the shaft. admit air and the other is to From the many passages aré many throw out foul air. There are many (side streets where the men are work- tunnels leading through the mine and ing to dig out the coal. The old the fresh air must be carried to the | method was to dig in with a pick ax men working there and the current and get out as large sised pieces as The shart much 1} human t y : i resn { must be made to pass inward while | possible, 'as small sized lumps are re- is made to pass out garded as of little value. These men through another set of tunnels. | were usually nearly naked owing to In going down in the cage, the sen- | the great heat in the mine, They sation Is most peculiar as the motion) Were compelled to lle on their sides of the car is felt very keenly with a| which caused them to wield a plck sort of sensation of the floor giving!at great disadvantage. When the 4 the sensation changes, | coal is sufficiently undermined it falls the gradual slackening of | by its own weight or is assisted by £5. s the car nears the"bottom. [a charge of gunpowder. Happily this {The time occupied In the descent|bhard work has been done away with varies according to the depth of the|in most of the mines and a man mine 'and the speed of the engine, merely guldes an electric cutter, only a few minutes being required to| Compressed air is frequently used as reach the bottom of a very deep mine. | the motive jpower as well, . Strong The foot of the shaft, known as timber and even steeP™ ames are used in our mines to protect the men from the fall of heavy coal and a spécial kind of fire-proofing is used. There are also many ways by which the men may escape if a great weight of coal begins to show signs of bending the supports. Only timber which has passed through a certain preservation is used for coal mining work and every precaution Is taken to protect the workmen. Two systemns. one known as the "longwill" and the other as (he "room and pillar" systems are gens erally used in the United States, By thé latter system coal Is mined from a number of small places called rooms wliloh are drivén at &n angle to the the foul air | lead tunnels to other | parts of the mine<--some of them a | mile away. At this point are boilers je are used for working any un- derground engines, and stables for | the ponies or mules especially in Eng- land, for these patient animals pull the trucks of coal from the various sections. They know their work so | well that they scarcely need a driver {and many instances are recorded of {their great intelligence when aceci« Electricity is is it . The chief gallery fs called ths "dip i very like those of a railway tunnel haulage way and pillars are left to' pess he stumbles and is soon over- WHIG ELEVEN _PAGE c--y end iy lributed IPrctrrred Livre lo i Che Sreafers {support the roof. ! method the whole face of a coal seam i Is taken out usually by a machine! No coal. is left] {guided by two men. behind wad the roof is allowed to! settle behind as the coal digging prog- resses, Ventilation Ventilation of the mines is one of the most Important things owing to the presence of gasses pecullar to coal formation. JFiredamp. choke damp and flood ars the miners great- est danger as they mean death by suffocation, burns or drowning. As coal is removed little lakes will form and often a miner's plok stuck in & certaln point will cause an inrush of water and result in a flood in the mine. Firedamp is an inflammable gas which often forms in the pit. It is similar to the gas we burn and Has the same effect as an opén stopcock In 8 room. Of cotrse, if it comes. in| | contact with fire there is an explosion, | | Occasionally canary birds have been {taken down into the mines with 'the {men as the little creatures are very susceptible ito gas and when they fall down in their cages it Is a signal for the men to get out. The birds gen- erally recover when they get to the fresh alr and they have saved the lives of many men. The firedamps J8 the most disastrous of all for when the explosion occurs everything is de- Stroyed, Choke damp or carbonle {acid gas follows in the wake of 'the | firedd®np and fs the miners dreaded! gnemy. The atmosphere grows dim and his lamp goes out. He starts to find a place of safety but in the dark- By the "longwall" | oe A Zors§ Hand CE i LENORE SENS ES -- = ST Forme sv or Ape, oz : HP 2ren® Tovrea' orl. Cos" come by the poisonous vapor. | cidents displayed a heroism which 1 The coal is hoisted up the shafts | pathetic in its earnestness and it Hi either by steam, electricity, com-|to be hoped that he will not be led pressed air or by gasoline and the astray by agitators whose main idea' coal is weighed; a man stands on each is to exploit him for their own benafit, side, one who watches in the interest lesen of the owner of the mine and one SWAPPING G A SUGGESTION 'Who sees that the workman has fair play. Fach truck load is weighed | Op, brothei's got a walking stick. A present he abominates; and its weight recorded in two large! ledgers and from these the pay roll 13] 4,4 sister's walst just makes her sick: made vp, it is a shade she fairly hates: \ And mother's gift Is a patent thing For toasting bread, which she can' bear, By ! And father has a signet ring, Who jewelry would never wear. Foreigners As the greater number of the min- ers aré foreigners pay day at the mine is especially interesting for there are whole towns composed of these people and the women are frequently at the pay window with the men i when the wages are paid. It is a And they have picked with perfect jargon of tongues, yet one | skill FR soon learns that it is the wife who| Their maiden aunt a carving kuife saves the money. i A lounging robe for Uncle Bill, The coal Is prepared for market Who never lounged, in all his life; by a great deal of acreening over bars | A set of James for Cousin Sue, and through revolving over shaking! Who doesn't like his works a jot: Screens together with breaking it with {And all the presents seem askew a roll to produce the required market And no one likes the things they size. got, The slate and other impurities are picked out by hand or with automatic pickers. It frequently contains snl- phur and this is washed out at spe cial washing plants, The coal miner equal If, then, we rack our wits in vals, And all for naught each year broke; | The giving will become a pain. And Christmas but a sorry joke. And so, that no one will be vexed, And nome be blamed for lack of sense; Let's get together ere the nex: + And shop with some intelligence. is a hard worker and his pleasures are few. Of late years the social and industrial de- velopment has been rapid and while he is still coarse of manner and speech he has frequently in mine ac- THE DOMINION TEXTILE COMPANY, Limited 'President: Sir Charles Gordon Mills in Mo ' of every description, printed, dyed, bleached or in the grey for jobbing and cutting up trades, Of Canada * Vice-President: Sir'Herbert S. Holt : General Manager and F. G. Daniels HEAD OFFICES: Montreal, P.Q. Yoon ¢ % v me na ' COTTON FABRICS 5 : -- 4 + Director: ow ntreal, Magog and Montmorency F. alls, P.Q, and in' Kingston, Ontario ¥ t