Mine Mule Supply Was Low in 1918

The Sweetheart of the mines

The Mine Mule Supply Low
April 10, 1918

Here is an interesting article written about the problem of using mine mules for the army while fighting in France. Mules were heavily utilized by the Army during World War One. They certainly shipped out a lot mules! I wonder did they get a medal?, Benefits, Compensation, Post Traumatic Stress counseling?

The Pottsville Journal

The Mule problem is now kicking the anthracite industry in the face, because Uncle Sam wants industrious mules to kick the Kaiser out of France. The situation has become a complex problem by degrees, until today, it has reached a pressing need. With the lack of mules their market price has increased, which in itself, becomes a factor in the cost of anthracite production.
In some sections of the mining fields, electricity has been substituted for mule power and sooner or later will throw the mule out of his long time job, but many mining companies are not yet in position to use electricity. The scarcity of mules, has accordingly, created a problem that must be met. The shortage has arisen from the demands of the war.
Just how big of a drop in the market the mule supply has taken can be seen in the United States statistics for the normal conditions preceding the war and the three year period for the fiscal year ending June 30th last.
From 1912 to 1914 inclusive the average annual shipment of mules was 4, 833. In 1915 there were 65, 788 mules sent over the ocean; 111,915 shipped in 1916 and 136, 869 in 1917 making a total of 316, 572 mules exported since the war for civilization began.. It will be seen accordingly, from these figures that the war needs for mules works against the anthracite output, just as the draft and other causes create a loss of 24,000 mine workers from the anthracite region since we entered the war.
What new animals are obtained by the mining companies are Green for the work of hauling coal in and from the mines. They must be trained by the employees of the various mining companies who must be taken away from their regular occupations and this again entails another loss to the producing companies both in time and money.