SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 81

SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

Bt Maorilanba.

(For tie Witness.)

The recent serious mine / disaster in Pennsylvania has brought the death-roll in American mines to the enormous total for the month of December of 600. There is small room for hope that any of the 200 men. now entombed m the Darr mine can escape with their lives. One man only contrived to get out. The cause was that most common cause of all — caving in, brought about by an explosion. •The shock waa so great that people sitting and standing in stores a hundred yards *nd more from, the en-trance were thrown to the ground. Accidents almost as appalling as this last have also occurred in Alabama and West Virginia within the past fortnight. In all 2000 men have been killed and nearly 5000 injured in the mining industry alone in the past 12 months, and this in. a country where natural conditions are peculiarly favourable to the getting out of coal. In the course of the last 17 years an army of 23,000 men have lost their lives.

The death rate of miners in the United 'States, per thousand employed, is three times as high as thai of some of t-be leading European, countries, -while if the mimjber were taken upon a basis of millioos of tons of ooal extracted, not only would America occupy a worse position than almost any otter country, but she would show a steady increase, whereas, year hy year, Europe is- eliminating dan- . gers with enviable result. One reason for the blackness of America's reoord given by authorities is that in practically all other countries the use of excessive chargesof explosives is prohibited by law. Definite limitations as to the permissible quantity of each to be used at any one time are fixed. There is no such law in the States. It is held by experts, that the jarring effect of enormous, discharges is one of- the primary causes of the falls of sock and coal. It may not com* at once, but the walls and roofs are undoubtedly weakened by such blasts. In Belgium the death rate from mining disasters is barely one-tenth what it was 30 yeans ago. In- France the figures per thousand employed are 0.91 ; in America, 6.40. In Belgium,- as in. the other European countries, there is a splendidlyequipped -testing station, and ceaseless experiments are carried out to devise means to prevent accidents and increase the 6afety .of urine workers. Every appliance, from mechanical improvements to safety devices, is here examined and tested. Mining legislation, too, is considered important. America has none of these establishments,, and legislative supervision, is of small account. It is hoped that the startling succession ©f recent accident* will have a good effect in this last direction. Already a bill has been introduced into Congress urging the creation of a bureau of mines and mining to investigate accidents and supply monetary relief to suffer-ems out of a fund to be collected- from a 1 cent tax per ton on all coal mined in the United States.

An accident, resulting in little loss of life, but noteworthy on account of aj curious incident, occurred in -Nevada at iue beginning of this month, when a mine caved in at the 400-foot level, imprisoning three men at the 1000-foot ley^. They have been entombed under 500 ft of solid rocK for nearly a month, and rescuing parties are- at work, hoping to get them out in another week or so. After the accident the men disconnected - the sixincb water column at the jpump, and drinking water and rations are now being sent down it. Vast internet has been created, and wine, cigars, and fruit, as well as letters, are being; forwarded to the imprisoned miners even from distant parts of the States. A 6ucoeseful effort was made to connect, the telephone with tie electric cable, s%> now those on the earth and in it can converse -easily regarding methods and needs. The gathering of statistics concerning mining accidents has set others to work in different lines. Some have gob up figures relating to loss of life in the building of sky-scrapers. A report ha* been issued on the numbers killed and injured in a single month by the street cars- of Greater New York— nearly 50, and 4800 injured. Of the latter 600 were employees, hurt in i-he performance of duty. The total dead in the year from all causes is nearly six millions, and doctors are now waging a campaign to prove that close on two millions of these deaths are -preventable were simple, health rules observed: Seven thousand of the annual deaths in "New York City are caused by common house flies, if the conclusions of the bacteriologist -of -the water bureau can be relied upon. Deaths from heart disease due to- the perpetual rush of life are increasing in some cities at the startling annual rate of 10 per cent In- New York nearly 6000 a year die from strain-. In one week 190 cases were diagnosed as heart disease. Bright's disease also is on the increase, and the fact is due to strenuous days and mental 6train. Consumption, too— or the "White Plagne," as Americans now prefer to call it — is the perpetual scourge of the States. In New York fully 50,000 deaths a year are due to this disease alone. In a city of two million in'the middle west the number of deaths will shortly reach 4000. - The prevention "of it is becoming one of the problems of the age. The New York legislation ' has been asked for an appropriation of So,ooodol to carry on the t proposed work. Ten leading physicians nave offered their knowledge and advice to the Health Department to help to check the spread of this ravaging malady. Massachusetts- and Pennsylvania are taking active steps. Illinois is busily engaged in the establishment of bureaus ana dispensaries, and has decided to issue leaflets and pamphlets so that knowledge of how to act in threatening cases may be within the reach of all.. Sanatoriums and open-aii camps ace being opened

generously, and whole staffs of visiting imnses are being appointed to, attend the patienta in their homes, see that directions are being carried out, and that life in the tenements '& being conducted on the most sanitary lines possible. " Ventilation" is becoming a veritable creed. One of the institutes has been endowed by a steel magnate to the extent of a million dollars.

Despite financial strain the Christmas spirit has been in the air, and though more have asked for aid and the street collections for Christmas dinners have been smaller than usual, goodwill has mad© the money go far, and hundreds who never assisted before have tMs year trkd to help others. The attending to the letters addressed to Santa Claus has captivated the hearts of many, and women in furs and working girls alike have made time to go to the Post Office, and come away with the letters of those they judged themselves best able to answer affectively At one post- office 5000 such epistles were received. Business men drop in durmg the lunch hour, laugh over the genuinely childish letters, leave their small change, and carry away one or two of the appeals from disabled adults or letters from those needing employment. One man turned out' his pockets, and, retaining only a car fare, left the rest (some £2 2s) to help supply the wants of tihese unknown and sanguine children. One plea brought a tender look from all the women — but it was left unanswered. It read-: "Please bring a baby to auntie for Christmas."

What was expected to be a sad Christmas in Pitteburg was turned to a joyful on© by the information that several of the greatest mills would open at the commencement of the New Year, and that 40,000 men should be immediately put! to work again. All "are hopeful that 1908 will bring a renewal of the old prosperity. A Chicagoan clergyman has found at new scope for Christmas energies: he and h» curate spent whole nights in visiting the worst saloons in the most dangerous district, carrying with them "Christmas cards" of a new kind. They were little bits of pasteboard, bearing the name and address, of his church and house, and as they . were passed round among the drinkers in the sordid bars Christmas •wishes sounded together with promises thaji if- at any time those cards were brought to the issuer help should be immediately forthcoming. Christinas- wae celebrated in the new State of Oklahoma by the lynching of a negro who had killed a white man for to let him hire a buggy. A mob of a hundred men and boys raided 1 the gaol, and hung the negro to a telegraph pole, where his body was soon riddled with bullets. The State is but a few months old. In Virginia also there were Christmas clashes, between white and coloured, marines parading the streets in squads chasing all the negroes in sight and forcing them to take cover where they could. For the rest, 18 people were murdered in. various parts of the country, 3.7 more wounded, and some half dozen committed suicide. So endeth the year of 1907.