Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 85, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 January 1918 — VISITED INDIANA COAL MINES [ARTICLE]

VISITED INDIANA COAL MINES

Supply Is Adequate But Transportation Presents Problem. Conrad Kellner of the firm of Kellner & Callahan returned home Saturday after spending four days among the various Indiana coal fields endeavoring to secure coal *> r Rensselaer. He visited the mines at Terre Haute, Brazil, Coal Bluff, Clinton, Linton, Sullivan, Dugger and Bicknell, and brings a most interesting report of conditions as he found them. There is no shortage of coal nor of miners, but the sole trouble in securing an adequate supply lays with the transportation facilities of the railroads. Mr. Kellner stated that in the four days he saw more coal than in all his life before, practically all of it loaded on cars and awaiting transportation. Cars will sometimes be loaded for days at a time before being moved out of the mine yards. There is no loss of time when empty cars are returned to the mines, for the miners are willing and anxious to work and when the empty cars come in they are filled at once. The miners are making good wages, varying from $8 to sls a day, and lose no more time than is necessary. At many of the mines the miners are not working more than one-third to one-half time because of car shortage. At Bicknell, where the American coal mines are located and which is the largest coal center in Indiana, Mr. Kellner saw four side tracks, each four miles long, and all of them were filled with loaded coal cars. These cars had been standing on the track since before the last snow and many of them were almost snowed under, as the storm was much more severe there than here. However, the snow is being rapidly cleared away and it is felt that normal conditions will be attained again within the present week. The same conditions prevail at the other mines in Indiana as at Bicknell, although not so extensive, as the American mines have a daily capacity of about 450 cars. Mr. Kellner was successful in securing the consignment Of several cars of soft coal to this city and fears of a complete shortage of fuel here have been largely relieved. However, the situation depends upon the transportation, and another snow storm would have a disastrous effect. The mining of soft coal presents an interesting situation to one who has never been acquainted with their operation. When the miners quit work in the ; evening a civil engineer then makes his surveys and stakes off “rooms” for each miner. Drillers then proceed to drill the portions surveyed and staked off and they are then blasted, and are all ready to be cleared next morning. The portions staked off vary in size according to the depth of the coal vein, but is sufficient to take a miner practically the entire day to clean up. Portions of the vein are left intact at regular intervals that act as a, support for the earth overhead, and are removed later, when “props’’ take their place. . The miners and other employes are paid by the ton, the miner getting about sixty-seven cents a ton, out of which he must pay a small part for the drilling and blasting and the weighing. The driller gets about six cents a ton and the weigher about two-tenths otf a cent.