CHINESE MINES A CHAMBER OF HORRORS SAYS CORSO WORKER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 33, 31 March 1948, Page 7

CHINESE MINES A CHAMBER OF HORRORS SAYS CORSO WORKER

"The coal mines here, near Shantan, are a 'chamber of horrors' where we sometimes take our visitors to let them see how low on the social and economic scale a human being can go, yet still exist," stated Hugh Elliott, an assistant to Rewi Alley in a newsletter from China, which was read at a meeting of the Cambridge Corso Committee recently. "Approaching the mines, all we see are holes in the ground, which look as if made by a fox,"' he added. "Most of these are disused mines. Either they reached the water level or the roof caved in. That is quite a common event, and there is little chance of digging anyone out.

"Two small black-faced creatures come up and talk with us. They do not come out from their burrows altogether as it is bitterly cold, and only their top halves have as much as a rag to cover them. "They both look about 12 years old, but are probably twice that age. If they grow much, they are ruled out of the mining business by the size of the holes. On their head is strapped a small oil lamp (how often the fire-damp explodes!) and around the waist is a bag in which they bring up a little coal each time.

"Under the plain on an up-thrust of which these 'mines' are scattered are millions of tons of coal. When the railway being built reaches here, will Shantan turn into the old style of industrial city with all its evils? Or will it follow a new pattern, with a better distribution of wealth and a saner plan for living? "That will depend partly on whether Village Industrial Co-opera-tives can take root quickly and firmly enough throughout China. And that in turn depends largely on whether Rewi Alley can train enough co-op. leaders here in his school in Shantan. And the school's success depends largely on its getting good coal, quickly and cheaply and in sufficient quantities, to run its pottery kiln, glass-making plant, brickyard, paper work, and machine shop.