SMOKELESS COAL FIELDS OF WEST VIRGINIA: A BRIEF HISTORY

4. Life in the Coal Fields at the Turn of the Century

4 Life in the Coal Fields At the Turn of the Century The company town and the company store have long been favorite targets of critics of the coal indu~try. Many apPQar to have believed that both were imposed on helpless miners by rapacious operators. However, such a view reveals a complete misunderstanding of the situation. In point of fact, the operators built towns because they had no alternative. The mining of. coal requires miners ; miners require houses. Since most mines were opened in virtually unsettled areas, there was no existing housing. Thus new houses had to be built, and the operators were the only ones with the capital and organization to do the job. Since the almost complete absence of allweather roads made it necessary for the miner to live close to his work, small villages (often called "camps") were built close to each mine. The average monthly rent of a miner's house was $1.50 per room for a "Jenny Lind" type of house. consisting of boards and battens outside, and ceiling boards inside; and $2.00 per room for a house weather-boarded outside and plastered inside. There was hardly any variation from these figures. The coal operator had to maintain the house, replace broken windows, mend leaky roofs, and repaint from time to time. The newly arrived miners and their fami_ 51 52 The Smokeless Coal Fields of West Virginia lies required not only housing but also food, clothing, etc., as well as powder, fuse and caps. However, in most cases there were no stores within reasonable distance, and it often required the better part of a day to visit one. During bad weather it was often impossible to do so at all. Thus, a store in each mining community was essential , and the operator was usually the only one with sufficient capital to provide it. Much misunderstanding has been circulated -often deliberately-about the operation of the company store. The true situation was quite different . As a convenience to the miner and his family, credit was extended by issuing orders on the store in the form of scrip. It should be stressed that at least in "my" area no one was required to ask for scrip. All employees could make their purchases in cash if they so desired. Indeed, many miners, especis.lly the foreign born, never drew scrip. The profits made by the company stores varied widely. Some companies took advantage of a near-monopoly, and charged all the traffic would bear. However, others-including those controlled by the writer--operated on a profjt margin considerably below that general among "private" stores in the area. In short, the company stores deserved only a fraction of the abuse hurled against them. However. it was a cheap and easy trick for union organizers or for competing and envious merchants to brand the company store as a "robber." Human nature being what it is, men who were careless in money matters and who let themselves get into debt eased their consciences by joining in the name calling. Many coal companies built churches and LIfe In the Coal Field. at the Turn of the Century 53 school buildings at each mining camp, and often supplemented the five or six months of schooling furnished by the county with an additional two or three months. The services of a company doctor were charged to each employee at 50 cents per month for single men and $1.00 per month for married men. Delivery of babies cost $5.00, and medicine was included in the doctor's charge. By the time of World War I, the charges had gone up to $1.00 for single men and $2.00 for married men. Usually one doctor (with an assistant paid a small salary by the doctor) served two or three mines, traveling by horseback from mine to mine. Trovel It may be of interest to describe local travel conditions in this area in the early part of this century. The roads were, of course, unpaved and impassable to wheeled traffic in the winter months. The writer remembers keenly his first trip to Beckley from Mt. Hope in the winter of 1905. On horse back, with the horse's tail tied up to keep it out of the mud, it took three hours to cover the eleven miles of road (now covered in fifteen minutes). On entering the village...