Miners have told me that in the Cabin Creek region they are paid only once a month, but when they start in, they are not paid any cash for sixty days, the first month's pay being held back. In the meantime, however, after they have earned sufficient money to pay the rent and other charges in connection with their cabins, their school tax, burial tax of twenty-five cents a month, their assessment for the maintenance of the mine physician, and sometimes an item for "protection" which is an assessment for the pay of the mine guards they will, "on application" be given a "script card" entitling them to purchase from the company store goods to the amount indicated on the card. On the edges of the card are figures and the amounts purchased are punched out very much as the waiters in a quick lunch restaurant punch out the amount of a customers order on his check.
[Illustration: _Courtesy of the New York Sun_
SOLDIERS IN CAMP AT CABIN CREEK JUNCTION]
These script cards will not, it is said, be given to a miner for the total amount which stands to his credit on the books of the mine company, but is usually for $2 or $3 if the man has that amount due him after deductions are made for rent in advance and other charges. If a man is very anxious however, to have some cash, a clerk in the store, will, it is said, discount his script card, charging him 25 per cent.
For the first two months, then, the miner, who starts out in debt, has to get everything he needs from the company stores. The prices at these stores are high, much higher than the miner would have to pay elsewhere for exactly the same grade of stuff. For the most part, the grade of goods sold at the company stores is much higher than is usually purchased by laboring men and their wives when they buy where they please. Here are some of the prices I found prevailing at stores along Cabin Creek:
Eggs 35 cents a dozen; "white bacon," pure fat and popularly known as "sow belly" 18 cents a pound; smoked bacon 22 cents a pound; white sugar 20 cents for a two pound bag; lard 15 cents a pound; brown sugar 15 cents a pound; coffee 30 cents a pound; tomatoes 15 cents a can; peas 15 cents a can; corn two cans for 25 cents; cheese 30 cents a pound; bread 5 cents a loaf; flour $7 a barrel, and salt 5 cents for a two pound bag. Salt is not sold in bulk.