Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.
Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/82345
1930-1939 ads of "the little brothers of gloom" who "with more fervor than grief" were lament- ing the "crumbling of the vast empire of King Coal." New studies found coal was still the dominant fuel for house heating nationwide. In 64 cities nationwide ranging from Cleveland, Ohio, to Columbia, S.C., and both Portland, Ore., and Portland, Maine, 78.6% of the U.S. was still using coal in their homes as opposed to 13.6% using gas and 7.8% using oil. The October 1936 issue also marked the 25th anniversary of Coal Age's publication. Available now on-line, the expanded edition chronicles and celebrates both the short his- tory of the magazine as well as the much longer history of the industry it served and continues to serve. But there was no doubt that King Coal in the Depression was getting kicked about. To do its share, in the October 1938 issue, Coal Agepublished a very detailed and colorful, for the time, "Public Relations Manual for Industry." Presented both by Coal Age and McGraw-Hill, this special insert provides a unique snapshot of where the mining industry was during the middle of the Great Depression. In 1935 dollars, mining was the fourth most valuable industry in the U.S. Employing more than 565,000 men in coal alone, the industry was worth more than $3.1 billion. Though production per man had gone up, mechanization by 1936 only accounted for 16.3% of total production. Of total 1936 coal consumption of 488 million, utilities took just under 44 million tons, cok- ing coal represented 66 million tons, the main railroads used 82.7 million tons and domestic coal accounted for more than 122 million. Other industries used over 153 mil- lion tons that year. 1935, however, saw another change as more scientific study was given to the causes of why so many miners were developing bronchitis—later correctly diagnosed as sili- cosis. Throughout the late 1930s, more stud- ies would reveal the horrific spread of the disease. Additionally, old age pensions began to be developed and deployed throughout the industry as management and the public began to question how long a person should have to work. What seemed like a foregone hope for millions became a reality as, by the end of the decade, workers throughout all industries, including coal miners, began to retire from their careers instead of expire while still employed. Labor won a significant victory once again with Roosevelt's re-election in 1936 and wages were increased nationwide. At the 34th Constitutional Convention of the United Mine Workers held in Washington in early 1936, John L. Lewis boasted that almost 74 www.coalage.com John L. Lewis. *Coal Age, March 1936 95% of the nation's mines were now union. Since 1934, Lewis told the 1,716 delegates that "being more completely organized than ever before, collective bargaining more uni- versally accepted, membership of the union greater than ever, the financial resources at their peak, the potential strength of the orga- nization is transcending the imagination of the organized labor movement of the coun- try and the public at large." In May 1936, Coal Age reported the new Department of Labor was launching a study of silicosis and silicosis legislation. Additionally, from 1935 through 1939, the magazine published several stories about old age pensions and the problems of "old age dependency", i.e., the fact that so many William Gibson. *Coal Age, January 1939 100th Anniversary Special Issue older people were both out of work and without money or property. By 1930, the average life expectancy had grown to 60 years, but people over 65 represented 5.5% of the total population or 6.6 million people. "Studies of the economic status of this group invariably show a substantial propor- tion is entirely dependent upon others for continued existence." In an era before Social Security, the Depression hit this group very hard. Many coal miners, particu- larly in the anthracite fields, chose to con- tinue working past 60 if possible. And, in eastern Pennsylvania at least three large anthracite companies proudly employed miners with 50, 60 even 70 years of service. Of the 190 men who had worked at the Lehigh Navigation Coal Co. (out of 6,400) more than 50 years, the oldest was William Gibson who, at 83 years old was still contin- uing work as a shop foreman. The gentle- man had accumulated more than 75 years in the industry, beginning his career at the age of 8. "Two or three years ago, the company thought he should be pensioned, but the outside foreman did not want to lose his ser- vices, as he felt he was doing more and bet- ter work than many of the younger men." In 1936, coal production grew slightly that year to 493 million tons. But in 1937 steady growth was halted by the onset of another recession. Republican pressure in Congress led to incorrect assumptions about the overall strength in the economy leading to another contraction. 1938 production fell by 20%—more than 100 million tons—to just 394 million tons. And the decade ended with only slightly recovered production with numbers coming in just below 450 million tons. However, while the middle and end of the 1930s were not a return to the halcyon heights of the 1920s, or anything approach- ing the return to normalcy sought at the beginning of the decade, they were at least fairly stable—especially in comparison to the wanton bloodletting that preceded it. The NRA and the NIRA were all chal- lenged in the courts as were many of the New Deal policies and some were over- turned. But the majority of the price, wage and production controls were kept intact. Though only World War II would really bring the economy back to 1920 levels, by the end of 1939 Americans, by and large, were much better off than at the beginning of the Great Depression—and a new spirit and society had replaced the free-market rugged indi- vidualism of the 1920s. As the decade ended, unionization, largely in the form of the United Mine Workers, was entrenched—as was the power of the federal government over both individual operators and the August 2012