According to the old Greek story Prometheus stole fire from heaven and thus drew upon himself the anger of the gods, because with fire he was able to work miracles and do wonders that rivaled the gods themselves. The metals of the earth are the instruments in the hands of man for accomplishing the material wonders that mark our time. Our age has been rightly termed the steel age, but, as we shall see in subsequent chapters, this period has its important and unique character only because man knows how to use fire, and because he has coal at his command.

The Riches of the Earth for Man. It is not surprising that the ancient Hebrews taught that God made everything for the benefit of the human race, and that man was the child of his supreme favor, for in every place over the entire earth are found the things essential to man’s happiness and comfort. Even in the most desolate regions, with very few exceptions, a man is able to make his way against adverse elements. The most valuable minerals are coal, iron, copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver. Of course there are many others that are mined and used extensively. The supply of coal produced for 1916 in the United States alone was 67,376,364 tons of anthracite coal and 502,518,545 tons of bituminous coal. During the first nine months of 1917 the mines produced 57,778,097 tons of anthracite coal, which is an increase of 7,847,681 tons over a similar period in 1916, or an increase of about 16 per cent.

In the United States the absolute necessity for coal was never felt so keenly as during the winter of 1917–18, when the Fuel Administrator shut down all the business places for five days and declared workless Mondays as a measure of relief. The war has demanded extraordinary measures, and these have been taken with a vigor and decision that have been really startling. The call for metals made by the warring nations has been so great that mining is now carried on at a furious rate. One of the Western mining papers uses as a slogan, “Get the ore while the prices are high.” The reason that the Germans hold so stubbornly to northern France is because of the rich coal and iron mines in the region. For years following the war there will be an extraordinary demand for an increased output of coal, iron, copper, and zinc, in fact, for all of the metals. The task of rebuilding the areas will demand not only ingenuity, but all the resources of all the nations combined.

The Producers of Coal. You have no doubt seen the women and children with their baskets picking up coal along the railroad tracks on the edge of the city. That small basket of coal will probably be all the fuel that many of them have. It is a common sight to see the little foreign boys bringing home packing-boxes and the lids of boxes that they have begged from the stores to take the place of the coal they cannot get. Those among us who live in steam-heated apartments, or in communities near the coal-fields or wooded areas, do not realize what a constant struggle is required on the part of the poor people in the cities to keep coal enough in the stove to prevent the family from freezing. “The only times I was really warm enough last winter,” said a Slovenian woman in Chicago, “was when I went to church, and then I had to keep my head muffled up.” It was said of a group of Italians in Boston, “The men go to the saloon, the women to the church, both for the same purpose,—to get good and warm.”

Just as we sometimes fail to realize how many people are working for us to make our clothes or to produce our food, so we forget the men who are toiling underground to dig the coal and mine the iron upon which we are so dependent for our every-day living. The city dweller especially is dependent upon the supply of coal that comes to him through retail sources, but in order to bring that coal to the city there has been a long line of workers, each one putting his hand to the task of producing the necessity.

Where the Coal Is Mined. If you should visit the coal-mining community, you would first of all be impressed with the desolation of the place. The village is an ugly, straggling affair with nothing to add to its beauty or hide its deformities. Nearly all the houses are built alike, two and three rooms being the average size. In all probability not one painted house is to be found in the whole town, unless possibly it is the front of a saloon on the main street. In many of the old-time mining communities the fronts of the saloons were all painted blue. Whether or not this was done to match the color of the patrons’ noses, no one seems to know. The fences are of rough pickets and so broken and out of repair that, as one person visiting the coal town for the first time said, “The pickets look like broken teeth in an old, dried-up skull.” There are very few flowers or gardens, and the deep black mud of the winter-time, the black smoke, and the dust of the dry season during the summer deepen the sense of desolation one feels in the midst of these villages. The schoolhouse is a poor one-room affair; and if there is a church, it has a weak organization and is housed in a building that is little if any better than the average in the community. Very few coal-mining towns in Colorado have a church of any kind. The Home Missions Council looked into this matter some years ago and reported extensively its investigations.

The Coeur d’Alene mining district of northern Idaho is rich in ores, but poor in cultural and religious opportunities for the people. In a region lying along the north fork of the Coeur d’Alene river there are half a dozen small towns where there is not a church, and it is rarely that a minister visits the region.

The Mining Areas. Never before have the common necessities of life seemed so important as they do now. Canada produces large quantities of minerals, the chief of which is copper. The production for 1916 of all the minerals was valued at $177,417,574. The coal and principal metals produced in Canada, with their respective amounts for the year named, are as follows:

To transport this amount of coal (the smallest tonnage of all) there would be required 482,056 freight-cars. This would make a train almost 4,000 miles long, a distance greater than from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.

The mining areas in the United States are fairly well defined. Practically all of the anthracite coal comes from central and northern Pennsylvania, only a little being mined in Colorado. The largest bituminous coal-fields are found in Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri, Colorado, Alabama, and some in the west-central part of Pennsylvania. Iron is mined in the northeastern part of Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, upper peninsula of Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia, western Pennsylvania, and in southeastern Kansas. The copper regions are in the upper peninsula of Michigan, Arizona, and northern Idaho. The chief lead district is the Joplin district of southwestern Missouri. This region is matched in large measure by the Coeur d’Alene of northern Idaho. Lead and zinc are almost always found together. Gold and silver are mined on the Pacific Coast, and in Colorado, and northern Idaho. Some gold is found in all of the Rocky Mountain states and small amounts in Georgia. There is scarcely a state in the Union but what produces to a greater or less amount all of the metals that go to make up the mineral wealth of the United States.

The Miners of King Coal. Coal is mined in three ways: by sinking a shaft and then running tunnels out from it following the vein of the coal; by driving a tunnel straight into the heart of the mountain; or by scooping it up with a steam shovel and loading it into cars. The first two methods are used in all the mines of Colorado; the latter method is used in the mines in southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri. In a mine where the shaft is sunk the hoist is directly over the mouth of the pit. The cages are just like elevators and drop to the bottom of the pit; there the loaded cars are pushed upon them and at a signal the car is brought to the top of the superstructure above the mine known as the tipple. The car is unloaded automatically and runs back upon the cage, and is lowered into the mine as the second car is brought up to the surface very rapidly. At the bottom of the mine and following it out along the vein of coal there are little railway tracks. The cars on these tracks are pulled by mules. Some mines have electric cars, but the mule is still the motive power in general use. These mules are sentenced to the mines for life. Stables are made for them by digging a cave in one side of the main shaft or tunnel, and here in the underground mine the mule lives, moves, and has his being. Sometimes the animals are brought to the surface and turned out to pasture. It is really pathetic to see with what joy they accept the light, air, and freedom of God’s good world above ground.

The only light in most of the mines is that given off from the little lamps carried on the caps of the miners. It is a weird sight to walk through a mine and see the bobbing lights; to catch the sound of pick and shovel in the tunnels that cross and recross each other at intervals; to hear the creak of the wheels, the slamming of the doors; and to see the mules as they strain at their task like phantom engines hauling the loaded cars of coal. When the men go to work in the morning, they are checked in and let down in the cage; when they come up they are checked out. In the morning when they check in they are white; at night they are black. Thus the color line is completely eliminated by working in a mine. The work is done in little rooms or pockets. Each miner has to work out his own room. He drills the hole, puts in the charge of powder; and when he has everything in readiness, fires the charge that brings down the coal; then he and his partner (for two men work together, one is called the miner, the other is known as the buddy) shovel the coal into the cars, and push them out into the main line of the mine tramway track. The miner and his buddy may be both white men, or the miner may be a white man and the buddy a Negro. They look alike as they work in the semi-darkness and the common tasks eventually make them appreciate each other for what they are and what they do.

The miner has to follow the vein. He must put in the braces to protect himself against the falling roof, must remove all the stone and slate, and mine only clean coal. This he shovels into his car. It is weighed and tagged, tally is kept, and at the end of the day he is credited with so many tons and is paid accordingly. When the vein is thick and the miner can stand upright, his work is hard and monotonous enough; but when the vein is thin, it is necessary for him to stoop or to lie down in order to get the coal. This makes the work hard almost beyond human endurance. It is no wonder that mining greatly affects the character of the men involved in it. No one can spend eight or ten hours underground every day doing that kind of work without having the place and the work stamp itself upon his mind and his character. Life underground spoils even the temper of a mule!

Accidents. Mining develops the spirit of adventure. There is always a risk. Mining is a dangerous operation and is classified as extra hazardous. There is continual danger from falling stones, and the miner is always gambling with fate. A study of the coroner’s report in any country where mining is carried on supplies concrete evidence that a large number of men are killed in the mines from one cause and another. There is the danger from the deadly carbon-monoxide gas and another danger from the explosion of the coal-dust. As the coal is mined a certain proportion of it is ground into powder, and this fills the air and becomes a powerful explosive. Precautions are taken in most cases. The mines are sprinkled and state and national governments have done much to make mining safe, but at the best the occupation claims an unusually heavy toll in life and limb.

According to statistics regarding deaths of miners during the years 1907 to 1912, it is shown that 23.2 out of every hundred died from accidents; and among the metalliferous miners 24.7 per cent. of all deaths were caused by accidents. A great many industrial accidents are due to failure on the part of the management to make proper provision against accident, and to keep abreast with the increase in efficiency of the machinery and output in the matter of precautionary measures. Also it is now known that industrial accidents are caused by excessive fatigue, carelessness, and ignorance on the part of the workers themselves. Taking all of these things into consideration, however, we must realize that a large proportion of the accidents and fatalities in the coal-mines are inherent in the business itself.

Returns for Labor Received by the Miners. Coal has to be dug where nature put it. Therefore, the mining village is almost certain to be located in a desolate region, and thus the miner and his family will be denied many of the good things that other people enjoy, because of the conditions under which they are compelled to live. We hear a great deal about the enormously large wages paid to the miner. Unfortunately this condition is not true; for the stories we hear of the big wages the miners receive are very largely fictitious. In the Colorado mines it is shown by actual study of the statistics taken at the time of the last great strike in 1914, that the average wage for the miner when actually employed was $4.58 a day; but other figures given at the same period show that other miners were paid an average wage of only $2.61 a day. It is impossible to get at the facts as to wages.

The miner is forced to buy his powder, oil, pay doctor’s fee, blacksmithing charges, union dues, and other expenses. These are deducted, so that the wage is reduced to the point where perhaps not more than one per cent. of the entire number of workers receive as much as $25 a week. In fact, the wage is so small compared to the difficulties of the work and the hardships of living, that the miner finds it almost impossible to move freely in order to better his condition. The result of this situation has been that, whereas formerly nearly all the miners were English-speaking men, they are now practically all non-English-speaking immigrants. In the camp at Ludlow, where the miners lived after they and their families were driven out of their homes in Colorado during the strike of 1914, there were twenty-two nationalities, and they were living together in some sort of amity.

Workers in the Metal Mines. The workers in the metal mines have a problem different from that of the workers in the coal-mines. The copper country of Michigan located on Lake Superior in the upper peninsula is the most famous metal-producing region of the United States. These mines have been operated for half a century; and for the most part a humane policy has been followed and, consequently, the cities and towns in the region have developed some civic pride, and have an unusually high reputation for orderliness and morality. There are very few of the bad features which one is accustomed to find in such communities. The district has approximately forty-two mines and the products from these mines amount to fifty million dollars a year. The shafts of these copper mines are the deepest holes that have ever been dug in the earth as far as we know. The “Red Jacket” mine is almost a mile and a quarter deep. The shaft of a copper mine is pierced every one hundred feet by levels or tunnels. The trams run in these levels to the chambers where the rock is cut and are known as stopes. Drills are operated by compressed air; the miner bores the holes, places the dynamite charge in readiness, and touches off the charge as he leaves his work at the end of the shift. The broken rock is picked up during the next shift, loaded into the tram-cars by the trammer, and then dumped into the skip or little car by means of which it is raised to the surface.

In the Coeur d’Alene field the process of mining in the lead and zinc mines is very much the same as that in the copper mines of Michigan. The Coeur d’Alene region of northern Idaho is a district in itself. It might almost be called a province, it is so extensive. The drills that are used by the miners are protected in some cases by a stream of water which pours off the end of its point as it comes in contact with the rock. This prevents the dust from flying and being breathed by the worker. These drills are just now being introduced. The old-fashioned drill had no such protection and is called by the miner the widow-maker, because of the gruesome effect on the worker.

Wages. The wages in the Calumet district as well as in the Coeur d’Alene section are not, and never have been, adequate to the needs of the men, nor are they proportionate to the returns received from the work that these men have been doing. Wages must be considered on the basis of comparative value. The type of the worker, however, and the risks incurred, and the opportunity for improving the worker himself must all be taken into account. When we remember the enormous profits made on the metals, especially within the last few years, we will find that the increase in the wages of the men has not been enough to meet the increased cost of living. Wages have advanced about 20 per cent. and living expenses 140 per cent. Some welfare work is being undertaken in almost all of the mining communities. But welfare work cannot supplement poor wages, nor does it do away with the feeling of unrest always present in the community and which threatens to break out in rebellion and throw the whole district into disorder.

The Church and the Miner. The pastor of the miners’ church told the story of the desolation in the life of his people. He said: “There are no chances for cultural work. When I talk about the higher life the people listen to me as if I were giving a lecture on Mars. It is something that is more or less interesting because I am able to make it interesting, but there is no special personal interest in it. All of my people live in this desolate and isolated village. There is nothing attractive anywhere around. The superintendent and a few of the English-speaking workers live five miles away in a place that calls itself a city. There are five other villages like mine; no one from the other places ever comes here except on business. Every Saturday night most of the men go to the ‘city.’ On Saturday, or pay-day evening, the stores, amusement places, saloons, and the principal streets of that center are filled with a heterogeneous mass of people of all races and there is a regular babel of tongues. The destroying forces work havoc with my people. Now what can I do to meet the conditions?” Listening to him I wondered and went away still wondering. In these places where men are working to produce the coal for us, and the metals that form the foundation-stone of our civilization, there must be something more than merely the touch of charity; there must be worked out a plan by which true brotherhood may become a reality. We are accepting the gift of these men, the things that they produce at such risk, and we are forgetting the men themselves. They are serving our interests and we have a responsibility for them, but what are we doing to meet the situation?

At the close of the Colorado coal strike a plan was inaugurated for bettering conditions throughout the state. This plan has much to commend it to the public favor. It is not wholly democratic and it has many features that can be criticized. Even viewed in the best light it fails to solve the fundamental difficulties in the situation—but it is a long step ahead of anything that has ever been done before. One of the miners, while discussing the plan, said: “It is all right as far as it goes. The best thing about it is that the company promises to allow us to join our union. When we get the district organized 100 per cent. we will put some real democracy into the plan.”

The features of the plan may be stated broadly in these four propositions:

First of all, the men working the mines are to be recognized as partners in the enterprise and are to have a voice in the management of the mines. They elect their representatives who meet with the representatives of the company and together they work out their own problems.

Second, the bad conditions which are chronic in the mines and which have disturbed the peace are to be corrected as far as possible.

Third, the physical conditions in the village are to be improved. Better houses are to be built and they are to be painted. Provisions are made so that the miners can have gardens.

Fourth, special arrangements are made for the establishment of better schools, Young Men’s Christian Association with club privileges, and help is given in organizing and maintaining churches and other religious agencies.

All of these things point to a better day that is coming, and is a great advance over the attitude taken by the old-time mine owner who replied to a committee which warned him of impending trouble, “Let them start something if they want to find out who is boss.”

The battle has not been won, and will not be won, until the church makes a demand for industrial justice its chief object, and makes democracy really applicable in every mining district and community throughout the whole nation.