OUR AMERICAN LETTER

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14829, 21 November 1913, Page 4

OUR AMERICAN LETTER

NOTES AND NEWS

TERRIBLE MINE FATALITY. (JROM OCR OWX CORRESPONDENT.) SAX FRANCISCO, October 26. An explosion in the Stag Canyon coal mine at Dawsou, New Mexico, on the afternoon of October 22nd, caused a greater toll of Uvcb lost than any recent mining- accident in this country, and, indeed, was ouo of the most tragic catastrophes in the history of American coal-mining.. At this dato it is not known, just how many miners wero killed. Tho shift on duty comprised in the neighbourhood of 280 men, and only twenty-three have lx>eri taken out from tho mino alive.. Under tons of fallen earth, timber., coal, and rocks, •many of the remainder lie buried. Those who were not crushed by tho falling masses met their death from the hunts of iho poisonous gases. Great lans in the mines which kept the air circulating were rendered useless by the I'orco of the explosion, permitting tho j deadly fumes to permeate every recess j of the mine. It is significant of the danger which always attends this industry that the «Sta;4" Canyon- mino was supposed to be one- of the njedei coal mines of the United States, and that such a disaster could occur in it iv;t3 believed to bo impossible. Only two or three days be^ fore the appalling disaster a State mining inspector had examined tho mino and declared it to bo in excel- ! lent condition. From the attitude in which some of xho dead bodies were found, it is evident that death came with terrible suddenness. One man was found leaning against a wall with his arms elevated against his face, as if he were wardingoff a sudden and un--1 expected blow. Another was dis- { covered standing erect, with his pick j in his hand, just as he had struck his I last blow into the coal. Heroic efforts were made to rescue the entombed miners, the hot** being that some i might have sealed themselves in re- ! cesses of the raihe and shut cif the ! gases. But the rescuers had no suci cess except in carrying out some men j still alive who were near the entrance ! of the mine. Indeed, the tragedy of s the situation was intensified by the fact ' that two of the life-savers were tbcm- « selves overcome., and despite the oxygen tanks they carried, were asphyxiated • arid carried out dead. "1 GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP. . ! The Federal Government, having by ! the establishment of a parcels pest sysj leiu broken down th© excessive charges i hitherto mado toy ibo express companies :or the carriage of small parceU, ; now proposes, according to a TVasbing- • ton feport, to take over the extensive : !«;»>graph ; and telephone systems of : the country, -which are how operated [ by private interest*;. The programme.

it is stated, is first to acquire tbo telephone wires, and theivby Government competition, force tho telegraph companies to sell out to tho Government at a reasonable valuation. Of course, such a scheme wouid involve an immense ©xpeiiditiirw. Tho purchase of tho telephone system alono would run into some 900,000,000 dollars, according to one estimate. Tho Bell system owns 14.610,813 niiles of wires . iii the United Status. It is by acquiring this concern's long-distance wires; according to the accepted understanding of the Government's plans, that it is proposed to bring the ■ telegraph companies to terms. Tho chief objection so far raised to the acquirement of tho telegraph systems is that thereby tho Government may be "backing the wrong horso.' . With the development of wireless, it is pointed out that the wires of the telegraph system might bo obsolete in ten years. THE NEW TARIFF. Tho feature of the new tariff law that engages chief attention continues to bo that"elauso 'which allows a reDat© of o per cent, unon goods introduced into tho United States in Amoricanowned ships. A very outspoken retort to Great Britain and other foreign countries that have protested ngahwt this provision as in violation of ifreaty rights wero uttered in the Senate a few days ago by Senator Martine, of New Jersey, who urged tho repeal of the Hay-Pauncefoto treaty with Great Britain, on the ground that it interferes with too many American right*. He said ho preferred tho repeal of the treaty rather than the repeal of th© 5 per cent, rebate, and predicted that tho United States would have tho best of the argument it' foreign countries tried to make commercial reprisals. "If Germany should elect to try it on us," he said, 'we would shut <<ff her supplies of cotton, copper, and votash. To "Great Britain we would give tlie same medicine. Should >outh America throw down the gauntlet we could shut off their coffee and rubber for a little and ruin would stare them in tho face. Japan needs our cotton, and besides tbat we are her best market." The tnlk about n special amendment of the law to eliminate this 5 per cent, discrimination appears to have "(lied away. Probably the United States "will at least give a, trial to this indirect method of encouraging its merchant marine.' AMERICAN" MEAT SUPPLY. Tho possibility of a moat famine in tho United States owing to tho neg- j lect of the farmers to raise caitle, discussed so keenly at the recent con-j vention of wholesale meat packers at i Chicago, is considered also in a special bulletin issued to the larniers of the country last week by experts of the Federal Department of Agriculture. James M. Pickene. of the Bureau of Animal Industry, which is portion of the Department of Agriculture, says:— "The high cost of meat is a eerions reality, and it is now oovious that the rise in prices in recent years is the natural result of an actual shortage m production. The condition is reflected in the per capita consumption of meat in the United States, which is estimated to have fallen off ten pounds in four ywtrs. or from 1621b in 1909 to l£2!b in the fiscal year 1913. It is evident that the country i<; facing an era of short production of meat and • tbat some constructive means must Be adopted if the American appetite for this, class of food is to be supplied." The bulletin points that in the last six years the number of beef cattle • in the conntry has atmarently fallen off !30 per cent, while the population has increased.