Kansas Coal And Mining

The following extracta are furniehed by the Kansas Cotnmissiöner of Labor: Forty-níhe coa] cónipanies reporting to the bureau o{ labor statistics, show ihcv were in operation during t lic joar ruiling Juno :!0, 1886, an aggregate of 9,045 days, an average of 181 to cach mine. The number of persons furnishccl cinplo. ment was 3,571, averaging sevenu -two to each company. Some idea of the extent of this iiulustry niay be oblained frorn the following calculation: It would réqutre the constant labor of one man 2,056 yoars, or fifty-one per cent of the entire population of the State to mine one day each and pul on board U'e cars the coal produoed in Kansas during the past year. Tho price paid for mining ranged all the way from 3 to 10 cents a bushei, according to the thickness of the vein and charaoter of the doposit, somo boing tcrmod "hedge" coal, which did not require blasting, the work being dono cutirely with piek, sledge and wedges. Another class must be "shot," as it is called, altogether. The highest pricc was paid for digging the "hedge," asit is generally found in the narrow veins, making it much more inconvenient to j work. The average price through the State was 5 cents in summer and 6 1-6 ia winter. The only object for making a reductlon in the price of summer mining set-ms to be to induce bonsumers to purchase when the demand would be naturally light, so that the mines may be kept in operation more constantly than they otherwise would. Uut whether the loss sustained by the miucr justifies this action is a debatable question, as it is a well eatahlished fact that only a very small percentage of consumers can aflbrd to invest in fuel so long beforo they are actually in need. The total amount of capital invested in this industry was $1,238,450, an average of $346.80 to each employé. The average animal earnings were $370.45, from which $66.04 must be j deducted for powder, oil, tools, and pushing, which the minera have to pay '; out of their meagre income, leaving but $304.41 with which to support their families, of an averago of four persons.