The Life of Coal-mining Regions.—Although coal is of tremen dous value in manufacturing and transportation, it is in some ways a hindrance to civilization because of the life at the mines. The proc ess of breaking out the coal and loading it into little cars far under ground is monotonous and tiresome. It is not particularly well paid, for it does not require much skill. Moreover, coal mining is one of the most unhealthful and dangerous occupations. The presence of coal dust and "fire damp" in coal mines impairs the miners' health by constantly obliging them to breathe polluted air. Explosions caused by fire damp, dust, and the careless use of artificial explosives cause many deaths. The greatest danger, however, is the falling of pieces of the roof and wall which often bury the miners. Hence, even more than in most industries, those who are more competent seek work> in other lines where there are better opportunities to rise. Their places are taken by less competent workers, who until the Great War, came to America in a steady stream from the more backward countries of the Old World. So many immigrants thus poured in that in many mining regions where they lived by themselves it was not possible to Americanize them. They still spoke their old languages, followed foreign customs, thought in foreign ways, and believed that liberty meant license.
Under such circumstances, the conditions of homes, schools, and churches, and of social life in general cannot be the best. Strikes, too, are common. In the history of the United States the worst of all strikes have occurred in coal mines such as those of West Virginia and Colorado. Such strikes are most apt to occur in isolated com munities inhabited largely by a foreign-born population. Since many miners are ignorant, both politics and social life have usually been dominated either by unscrupulous mine owners or equally unscrupu lous anarchistic agitators. Since other industries are not developed, it is not easy for the miners to enter other occupations, and there is no body of skilled laborers, merchants, and other substantial people to act as a "balance wheel." Hence when strikes occur, violence is apt to be common on both sides. In several cases serious fighting has taken place, and United States troops have been brought in because the local police and even the State troops have been unable to cope with the trouble. This oft-repeated condition has led the great coal State of Pennsylvania to establish an effective State police force, or "constabulary," which is used in preventing disorder when strikes occur.
In England also the coal mines have been the scenes of some of the worst strikes. During the Great War the miners saw their oppor tunity to demand higher wages. A temporary strike threw the country into great alarm, for if the coal supply had been cut off, the operations of both peace and war would have been brought to a stand still. Thus it appears that while coal is the foundation of modern
industry, the actual work of mining the coal is a hindrance to civili zation.
Petroleum and Natural Gas.—(1) Why They are Easily Obtained. —Although petroleum and natural gas have been known from early times, their common use for light and heat did not begin till about 1860, and for power till near the end of the century. Among the world's important fuels petroleum and natural gas are (1) the most easily obtained, (2) the most easily distributed (3) the most varied in their uses, and (4) the most easily exhausted. They are easily ob tained because when holes are drilled in the deep-seated rocks where they accumulate the pressure causes them to well up. Often oil and gas gush out so violently that the well-drilling tools fly high in the air, and the flow cannot be checked for weeks or months. Such "gushers" sometimes take fire. When oil was struck at the San Bocas well in the Tampico oil field of Mexico in 1908 the oil that gushed out caught fire from the drilling engine. It burned 57 days, consuming 175,000 barrels of oil a day, and wasting material worth $3,000,000. The flame was 800 to 1400 feet high and gave so much light that a news paper could be read by it at night 17 miles away. Such a well, when properly capped, is worth thousands of dollars a day.
When such huge returns are possible from the insignificant labor of drilling a well, it is not surprising that the search for oil has been carried on with the same eagerness as that for gold. When new oil territory is opened, prospectors rush in to get hold of the best sites, and there is all the reckless excitement, quarreling, and trickery which occur during stampedes for gold. The first days of the California and Texas oil-fields, for example, were marred by great lawlessness.
(2) Why Petroleum and Gas Can Easily be Trans ported.—Petro leum can be transported cheaply because it can be pumped into tank cars or tank steamers as easily as water. It can also be pumped through pipes for hundreds of miles, thus giving it the cheapest pos sible mode of transportation. Pipe lines to-day run not only from the oil fields in Pennsylvania and Illinois to New York, but from Oklahoma to Chicago. In Asiatic Russia a pipe line runs from the Greak Baku oil field on the Caspian Sea to Batum on the Black Sea. Gas, too, is piped hundreds of miles. Throughout large areas of Pennslyvania, West Virginia, and Ohio almost every house is supplied with natural gas which is used for cooking, heating, and lighting. The gas does not even have to be pumped, for with the aid of com pressors it is carried along by the pressure of the well behind it.