how much did coal miners get paid in the 1980s how much did coal miners get paid in the 1980s

The correct use of explosives depended on the miners skill and knowledge of how to drill, how much powder to use, and how to damp a charge properly. 162-207. Wiki User. Meal time was cold, cramped, and wet. 25-38. Source: U.S. Congressional Serial Set Vol. The pit closures the miners had fought so hard to prevent began in earnest. Wages are shown in 1930 US dollars. Boys discovered that serious men turned into jokers when they toiled underground. The study pays particular attention to women who made less than the average wage. Describes the labor policy of Mexico in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Discusses household expenditures for electricity, and estimates the number of homes that had various electrical appliances (radios, refrigerators, irons, etc.) Shows typical pay in stock companies, dramas, musical comedies, vaudeville and screen, from extras to Hollywood stars. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages and hours of a variety of occupations in Madrid. Lists annual pay for individuals occupying administrative and supervisory positions in the executive and judicial branches. Source: Hotel rates can often be found within the advertisements throughout the pages of the. Phone (573) 882-0748. Includes wage data for Chicago as well. Indicates prices per kilowatt-hour by areas and cities. Tables are broken down by type of job, gender of employee, and geography. Data gathered by the National Industrial Conference Board (a group of industry associations) which used European government publications for information. Source: BLS Bulletin no. Shows salaries for sevenoccupations inpolice departments of 25American cities. Source: BLS, Shows wages of various industrial and agricultural gender, in both Romanian leu and contemporary U.S. dollars. For example, a dollar earned in 2020 had the same buying power as 7 in 1928. Source: BLS, Shows the average wages of Spanish agricultural workers in different cities. Taken from the 1921 U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook, starting on page 804. Dining room: Shows breakouts for automobile manufacture, cigar making, boots/shoe making, men's clothing, iron/steel and more. 514. Wages are shown in Greek drachmas. Musical instruments: Appalachias traditionally small, locally owned mines started merging with larger energy firms in the 1960s, and by 1970 bituminous coal employment had dropped to 140,000 people from its 1923 peak of 740,000. $15 - $30. Wages are shown in Dutch guilder. Teacher salaries for. Taken from Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Source: Shows the daily or monthly wages of 13 occupations in the treaty port. Source: BLS, Shows the minimum hourly wages of various occupations in Brussels. Typewriters, school supplies, office supplies, fountain pens, more fountain pens, books, drawing sets, home office furniture. Source: Women's Bureau Bulletin #85. Details the prices of appliances, furniture, and more household items on pp. Wages shown in litas, and US dollars in parentheses. Tax covers both land and buildings. In West Virginia, where mineswere cut near the mountaintops, the overburden was looser and more prone to collapse than in the deeper shaft mines of the North. Table 41 in this source shows the average salary for all teachers in elementary and secondary schools in New York state, not including NYC. asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT as 89W detailed information as may be readily available showing the numbers and groupings of employees in the coal mines working at the surface and face, respectively, whose basic rates of pay on 1st November 1973 were below the national average wage of 42 per week ; and how far . Source:Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. HEALTH CARE Boys frequently were assigned the most-dangerous jobs. Besides know-how, the miners depended upon instinct and luck. Smoke from explosions of black powder,the reek of oil lamps, and the pervading coal dust made breathable air something of an obsession with the miner, one miner recalled. Shows wages paid on American, Belgian, British, Danish, Dutch, French, Spanish and Swedish cargo ships, by occupations including seamen, engineers, first mates, second mates, radio operators, boatswains, firemen, coal passers, stewards, cooks, waiters, messmen, mess boys, carpenters, deck engineers, quartermasters, store keepers, donkey men, and more. Shows expenditures by category with prices per article and amounts needed annually for a family of five. Knickerbockers, shirts, high school boy's suits, boy's fine suits, overcoats, winter coats, jackets, pajamas, rain coats, caps and hats, shoes. Prices are shown in either contemporary US dollars or Chinese coppers. Source: Chicago Commission on Race Relations report. Wages are shown in Latvian rubles. Created by Grove Atlantic and Electric Literature, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), A Novel of Putin's Russia That Got Its Writer Beaten Up, What Should You Read Next? Source: BLS. In the 1920s decade, 8% to 12%of peopleaged18-21enrolled incollege. Shows the average weekly wages of NY factory workers every month over a 14 year period. The need to correct these abuses led the UMWA to demand the employment of a check-weigh man whom the miners could trust. Gasoline cost an average21.7 per gallon in 1929. Wages are shown in Italian lire. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. It was a dreadful experience Booker T. Washington never forgot. Dresses, skirts, blouses, suits, patterns for sewing frocks,, dress gloves, shawls, sweaters, silk undergarments, pajamas, union suits, corsets, gowns, stockings, hats, winter coats, fur coats, winter gloves and mittens, shoes, purses and bags, diamond rings, necklaces and jewelry, brooches, perfume, wigs. Wages are shown in Czech krone. Wages are shown in Brazilian milreis. Wages shows in 1930 US dollars. There was little prospect then that coal would be in demand as it is today or that the daily wage of miners would be multiplied 8 to 10 times by 1974. This risk increased enormously when inexperienced miners failed to undercut the coal before blasting and took the risk of shooting on the solid.. 613. Stealing another mans coal was considered a terrible crime. A thief could commit this offense easily, simply by removing one miners brass check from his coal car and replacing it with his own; but the miners often detected this kind of trickery and banded together to demand the thiefs termination. Check the, Shows the daily rate of Utah coal mining workers in a variety of jobs and occupations. For example, the 1920 volume gives rates in Ohio and Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana, and more. Wages are shown in Mexican pesos. Frank Keeney wanted to be a first-class tonnage man because he needed to support his widowed mother and two sisters, along with his new wife, a fair teenager named Bessie Meadows, an Eskdale girl who wanted to become a schoolteacher. Source: Lists prices of typical food items, housing expenses, clothing, fuel, light and more. Believed to be the worst coal mine disaster ever, an explosion at the Bnxh mine in Liaoning province killed 1,549 people in 1942. Source: U.S. Bureau of Education. Covers more than 1,200 cities. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), The American Twins, Harpers Weekly, 1874, African American History Curatorial Collective. Part of a section on Negro women's wages. Red Ash mine was also the location of a disaster in 1900, which killed forty-six miners. Three decades earlier a boy about the same agea newly emancipated slavehad worked in the same minefield. One statute required operators to print maps of their mines, but it excluded any provisions for enforcing this requirement. Provides detailed breakouts by occupation. Income statistics of full time professional women were published in study by the Association of Business and Professional Women. Literary giants have thoughts on the new edits to Roald Dahl's works. Every day his lifes in danger, Source: BLS, Shows the hourly and weekly earnings of industrial wages in Romanian leu. Instead of paying miners by the ton, they hired them as employees and paid an hourly wage. Must use "search in this text" feature to navigate. It is not yet available to read online; check your local library for a printed copy. over the years. Wages are shown in pounds, shillings, and pence. From. Mule drivers and trapper boys like Frank Keeney set out at six oclock every morning with the adult miners, who each carried a pick and auger, a can of black blasting powder, fuses, and a tamping rod. Compares average retail prices for drug-store items at independent stores and chain stores in Cincinnati and Washington DC. Following legal tradition, companies usually placed blame and responsibility for injuries on the workers. Report published in 1925 mainly covers wages in manufacturing industries. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review, July 1930. Work clothes, work shirts, dress shirts, dress pants, trousers, vests, suits, dress gloves, overcoats, winter coats, fur caps and collars, neck ties, belts and suspenders, caps and hats, nightwear, socks, shoes, boots, pocket knives, pocket watches, toupes, razors, smoking pipes. Bonus. 8836. After the top fell, they returned to break and load the fallen coal before another layer of the top came crashing down with a tremendous roar. West Virginias mine safety laws were the weakest in the nation. Source: Very simple table shows average hours and earnings for all production workers in manufacturing for each year from 1919-1960. Kitchen: Describes the labor policy of New Zealand in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Shows forty pages of incomedata with numerous breakouts. Its an era of company town labor we are not likely to see return as automation and renewable energy continue to render these kinds of occupations obsolete. Each table spans 2 book pages, and row labels only show on even-numbered pages. There is also a table showing, Shows the value of multiple currencies in US dollars in the years of. Working in coal mines is dangerous miners have to deal with toxic . Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin, No. The veteran miners, who prided themselves on their toughness, taught the youngest ones how to act like men, how to ignore the pain, and how to laugh away their fears. 8836. For hours on end, a trapper boys ears would take in the strange sounds made by creaking timbers, rattling coal cars, clopping mules, and thudding blasts of explosions deep in the mine, while his eyes would behold surreal sights, like the white bones of ancient fish skeletons and the remains of tropical plants when they were illuminated by the miners lamps. An open flame provided the only light, and the cloth cap barely kept lamp soot away. Source: U.S. Dept. Shows data for unskilled male laborers in each of 13 industries, as well as an overall average. Source: Monthly price list for Ralph's Grocery Company, which sold only in the Los Angeles area. 412. In West Virginias colliers, miners were paid 49 cents per ton of clean coal, compared with 76 cents in the unionized mines of Ohio. Source: Lists costs of running a farm, including costs of power, labor, insurance, interest on loans, etc. Wages are shown in Japanese yen. Mentions the wages paid to both skilled and unskilled workers in francs. Shows the average weekly wages of various occupations in 8 different industries in Budapest. The wage data is broken out by sex. Managers worried about competition, costs, and controlling workers who spoke multiple languages and labored out of view. Wages of pattern makers, molders, drill press operators, lathe hands, machinists and more. When a miner and his helper approached the entry to their room, danger lurked in almost every move they made. Board a ship to cross the wave; It was usually undertaken by women, and sometimes children. Every three or four hundred feet, passageways were cut, creating narrower, corridor-like rooms that led to a coal face where each miner and his buddy worked in their own room. The colliers left large pillars of coal standing as they cut the face forward and sideways through breakthroughs that led to parallel rooms. Coal mining is a dangerous job requiring skill and judgment. Mostly covers manufacturing industries (tobacco was prominent), but there is some data for women who worked in mercantile stores, 5-and10-cent stores, and in laundries. "A good hotel room costs only $4-5 per day while a hospital charges $6 and $7." This was the world Frank Keeney entered as a boy. Unskilled labor hired by cities for construction, repair or cleaning of streets. Source: BLS. It also summarizes the years from 1907-1922. Coal operators often provided services like company stores. Lengthy article reports how much educators earned in Illinois' high schools in 1920-1921. MERCHANDISE Lists single-unit prices for barbital, benzoyl peroxide, benzocaine, aspirin, quinoline, and more, showing proprietary and coined drug names. Montgomery Ward catalog shows prices of radios and radio supplies on 60+ pages. Source: Quote: "I presume that a fee of $200 would be a pretty fair estimate of the surgeon's charge for operation and the after-treatment between the operation and the death of the patient." On one hand, the miners discipline and death-defying courage made them ideal industrial soldiers; on the other hand, the qualities the men forged in underground combat with the elementsbravery, fraternal fealty, and group solidarityhardened them for aboveground combat with their employers. Source: BLS, Shows the wage scale for various occupations for Japanese and Chinese workers in Dairen. Next came preparations for extracting the coal. With industrialization, workers lost control of when to start, eat, and end their day. Shows the daily wages of Chilean miners between 1911 and 1924 in both pesos and the U.S. dollar. Source: page 13 in. During the early 1900s, roof falls in the bituminous coal mines killed an average of 886 workers every year, as compared with the 274 deaths per year caused by explosions and fires. Shows the hourly, daily, and biannual earnings of different occupations in the Missouri coal industry between 1890-1922. Source: Shows pay for state carpenters, stage electricians, props men, show directors, agents, ushers and more. Wages are shown in German marks. Shows police department salaries for cities over 100,000 population. Occupations included are limited before 1916. The Miners' Strike of 1984 was a turning point in British history. Nothing was the answer, nothing but the miserable life he and his family endured living inrented shanties hard on the railroad tracks. Green miners like Frank Keeney also learned that surviving underground required men to depend upon each other and to honor the wisdom of the most experienced men. In 1900 almost 2 percent of Americans were coal miners. Firedamp, described as the monster most dreaded by the practical miner, could explode if ignited by sparks or powder blasts, which would send fires raging through mine shafts with hurricane force. Compares to national averages. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (July 1930), Shows the average wages of multiple occupation in the mining industry. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Wages are shown in both German marks and contemporary U.S. dollars. An experienced miner would often work calmly under conditions that would terrify a novice, wrote a veteran of the bituminous mines. The coal industry required more labor than southern West Virginia could supply. Covers elementary, junior high, and high school teachers in American cities with populations of 2,500 or more. Source: AAUP report, p. 162. In 1984 there were 174 deep coal mines in the UK by 1994 - the year the industry was finally privatized - there were just 15 left. The 1920 Montgomery Ward mail order catalog showed the price of. A Latvian immigrant and devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Old Believers, Michael Simon wore this cross as he labored in Pennsylvania coal mines. Source: BLS. Average earnings by occupation and districts. Source: Shows wages, hours and earnings for mechanics, pipe fitters, welders, tinsmiths derrick men, drillers, firemen, engineers and more. It provided a $1.20-a- day wage increase effective Jan, and an increase of 80 cents a day beginning April 1, 1959. Wages are shown in French francs. But on some weeks, a miner might work only two or three days because the railroad failed to supply enough coal cars, or because the mine needed repairs. Fascinating book that shows various imported items (such as kid gloves, bloomers, silk nightgown, men's pipe, electric flatiron, glass lamp, etc.) Wages are shown in Danish ore. Milk cost an average 33 per half gallon in 1920. The deal, brokered by. If a man died in a mine, they quit work to honor him and to take up a collection for his surviving wife and children. (Jack Corn/EPA) A ppalachian coal production has been on shaky ground almost since the industry's inception in the mid 19th century. - Earnings, 1929, Farm workers' wages and income,1909-1938, Male farm labor average wages by state, 1929, Airplane pilot (commercial) - Salary, 1929, Barbers and hairdressers - Earnings, 1929, Baseball, major league - Player and umpiresalaries, 1929, Union wages in construction trades, 1913-1930, Union carpenter wages in selected cities for 1924-1925, Average hourly carpenter wage in U.S. for 1926, Carpenter wages for 1920-1928 for twelve major U.S. cities, Cement industry job wages and hours, 1929, Coal mining jobs - Hours and earnings, 1919-1933, Domestic (household) service - Male workers' wages, Executive salaries in private businesses, 1924, Teachers and principals' salaries by city, 1921-1922, School personnelsalaries by sex in selectedcities, 1926, Teacher's salaries by school level, 1924-1928, Illinois teachers salaries in high schools, 1920-1921, New York state teachers' salaries, 1920-1932, North Carolina teacher salaries by race, 1922, Texas school personnel salaries (white only), 1872-1953, Firemen and fire department salaries by city, 1927, Foundryand machine shop jobs - Wages and hours, 1923-1931, Administrative and supervisors pay in federal government, 1926, Iron and steel industry wages and hours, 1907-193, Lumber industry job wages and hours, 1921-1932, Military pay for officers on active duty - 1926, Mining metals - Wages and hours, 1924 and 1931, Mining - anthracite and bituminous coal, 1922 and 1924, Metalliferous mining job wages and hours, 1924, Nursing - Average salaries for public health and institutional nurses, 1927, Petroleum industry - Wages by occupation and state,1920, Seamen and firemen on ocean ships - Wages, 1914-1918, Slaughtering and meat-packing industry, 1921-1929, Street laborers (unskilled) - Wages and hours, 1928, Telegraph and cable industry - wages and salaries, 1922, Telephone industry - average compensation per employee, 1922, Typical fees charged for veterinary visits are described, 1926 annual salaries for individual veterinarians, Wages for thousands of occupations, indexed alphabetically - 1929, Manufacturing job hours and earnings, 1919-1960, Factory employee average annual wages - 1921, 1923, Industrial home work - Earnings, early 1920s, Automobile tire manufacturing wages, 1923, Motor vehicle industry job wages and hours, 1922-1928, Airplanes and aircraft engines manufacture - Hours and earnings, 1929, Boot, shoe, hosiery and underwear manufacturing wages, 1907-1920, Clothing (men's) manufacturing wages & hours, 1911-1932, Hosiery and underwear manufacturing - Wages & hours, 1907-1932, Woolen and worsted goods manufacturing: 1910 to 1930, Woolen and worsted goods manufacturing, 1907-1922, Furniture manufacturing industry - Wages and hours, 1910-1931, Pottery industry job wages and hours, 1925, Paper box-board industry job wages and hours, 1926, Professional and business women - Salaries and income, 1927, Library assistants - Earnings by city, 1923, Women employed as cleaners, maids, and elevator operators in Washington DC, 1920, Women's wages in the candy industry in St. Louis and Chicago, 1920-1921, Women's wages in candy industry - St. Louis, 1920-1921, Women employed as household servants in Philadelphia - late 1920s, Women's wages, hours, and earnings - South Carolina, 1921, Women in Tennessee industries - Hours, wages and working conditions, 1925, Colorado - Wages by occupation and industry, 1928, Union workers' annual earnings - New Haven CT, 1927, Teenagers' wages by occupation and sex in Detroit, 1922, Wage in the Missouri shoe industry, 1913-1922, Public school employee salaries - New York City, 1928, Ohio - Average annual wages and salaries by occupation, 1916-1932, Development of minimum wage laws in the U.S., 1912-1927, Minimum wage laws of the U.S., construction and operation, 1921, Wages by occupation in Buenos Aires, 1926, Buenos Aries - Average Wages, 1922, 1926, 1928-1929, Minimum wages in Sydney and Melbourne, 1914 and 1921, Wages and cost of living in Austria, 1920, Farm help wages in Canadian provinces by sex, 1920s, Wages by occupation in Canadian cities, 1920, Wages by occupation in Canadian cities, 1921, Wages by occupation in Canadian provinces, 1924-26, Wages and hours of labour - Canada, 1920-1926, Wages in boot and shoe industries in France, 1924, "Real wages" in Germany by industry, 1923, Automobile manufacturing wages in Germany, 1929, Wages and hours in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1924, average weekly earnings by industry and sex, Wages by industry in Great Britain, 1914-1921, Wages in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1924-1928, Wages in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1924-1932, Agricultural trades - Minimum wage in Great Britain, 1920, Building trades - Wages by city in the UK, 1920, Iron and steel industry wages in Great Britain, 1926, Coal miner earnings in Great Britain, 1921-23, Judges of county courts (UK) - Salary, ca. $180 - $5k. See list of the most common occupations for women in 1910 and 1920 (source: Census Bureau). Paragraph below the table describes the weekly earnings of blast furnace workers, smelters, rolling mill operators, and foundry workers in both Pounds Sterling and U.S. For easier browsing, the information is. Prices are shown in German marks. Links to government documents and primary sources listing retail prices for products and services, as well as wages for common occupations. After the Civil War, industrialization meant a nearly limitless demand for anthracite and bituminous coal, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs . Some occupations covered include telephone operators, waitresses, hotel maids, chambermaids, elevator girls, laundry workers, retail clerks, and factory workers in the wood working industry. Source: BLS, Shows the hourly, daily, and weekly earnings in Milan for various industries. Covers the states of NH, VT, MA, CT, KY, SC, AL, MO, KS, IA and OH. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. $32k - $76k. Wages are shown in contemporary U.S. dollars. of Agriculture report. Wages are shown in both Chervonetz roubles and contemporary U.S. dollars. TRANSPORTATION Purchasing power is represented in its equivalence in horses, wheat, the yearly wages of a skilled tradesperson, and others. Coal mining wages - Illinois, 1920. Source: U.S. BLS. Source: BLS. Source: BLS, Shows the earnings over different times for both government employees and manual workers in Hamburg. Boy's: 467. 664. Use the following hyperlinks to see values for AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY. More passenger air fares from other sources: Household items: Shows the average weekly wages for a variety of occupations and industries in New Zealand. Took into account additional sources of income for farm families, such as income derived from animals or investments. Average weekly earnings of male and female workers in the British cotton industry are shown at four periods of time in 1924. Tables are broken down by occupation, sex, and state. This calculator allows you to compare the buying power of wages earned at different points in history. Source: BLS, Shows the average retail prices of foodstuffs in Madrid and Barcelona. by STATE Even in a good week, there was unpaid work to perform: propping up newly opened rooms with wooden posts, laying track to his room, and lowering the floor of the main tunnel so loaded coal cars could pass through. Email: concannonm@missouri.edu Also shows average family size in each state. Keep your hand upon the dollar, Shows average dollar amount spent annually in categories such as food, clothing, maintenance of health, personal goods, furniture and more. Sporting goods: Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. From, Earnings forveterinarians with governmentjobs, in scientific labs, in sales, or working as. Source: 1934 Statistical Abstract of the United States. Source: You may download a pdf version of the 1928, Hotel rates are shown in the advertisements in. Source: Howard University, States "the average student probably spends about $700 per year for a college education" and shows, This source shows the cost of funerals and burial in 18 states and in 10 major cities. Click "more" for direct links to wages in each occupation. Other enslaved African Americans escaped from the salt works to Ohio, a free state only 60 miles away. Coal companies also recruited in Europe. The mine operators assumed that if they paid a worker according to the number of tons he loaded, they would foster a competitive climate underground; and in a sense, the tonnage system worked this way. Details the price of clothing for men, women, boys and girls on pp. Bicycles, binoculars, footballs & basketball supplies, ice skates, athletic gear, boxing, baseball, & tennis supplies, fishing tackle, camping gear, guns. Shows prices for articles of clothing sold in 35 retailer shops in twelve cities. Source: BLS. Prices are shown in Latvian rubles. In some cases, when word came around that a miner had been scolded or punished by a boss, workers would gather on a pile of slate to talk about the incident, and the bolder ones with a manly bearing toward the boss would speak up for their fellow worker. Many of the reports can be found in. Source: BLS, Shows the cost of foodstuffs and other necessities in Greece. Tomorrow night at 9pm PBSs American Experience will broadcast The Mine Wars, based on the book. See data considerations for explanation. Table 25 shows additional breakouts for skilled and white collar workers by region (. The union was very important to miners. They designed complex ventilation systems with fans and interior doors to keep dangerous gases from causing explosions. But the chorus of foreign languages confirmed managements fears that companies were slipping out of control. Source: U.S. Dept of Agriculture. Source: BLS, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Shows wages by occupation grouped by industries, with breakouts for males and females. Source: BLS, The explanation states: "real wage rates have been computed by the Statistical Office on the basis of the official German cost-of-living index. A man sometimes had to get down on his hands and knees, with his left shoulder, well padded, against the car, bracing himself with his toes against the ties and the dirt of the floor, wrote a former miner, while his partner controlled the brakes to keep the car from rolling back on the pusher if he slipped or grew tired. Back injuries, broken legs, and severed feet and fingers were common. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Shows average wages alongside a cost of living index for Germany between 1929-1942. Wages are shown in shillings. Source: BLS, Shows the average retail prices of food, clothing, and fuel prices in Shanghai. Shows average wages (with and without board) by province. Engineers used anemometers to measure airflow within mines. After workers had advanced the mine face to the end of the seam, veterans began the dangerous work of removing the massive coal pillars that stood between the rooms and helped support the mine top. Pennsylvania's investment in anthracite iron paid dividends for the industrial economy of the state and proved that coal could be adapted to a number of industrial pursuits.