Thousand Killed in Mines.
More than 1,000 lives were lost in and about the mines of Pennsylvania in 1914, according to statistics made public by the state department of mines. Six hundred men and boys were killed in the anthracite mines—a reduction of twenty-four, compared with 1913—and 413 lost their lives in the bituminous regions—a decrease of 198, compared with the previous year.
The total production of coal in the State was 237,251,835 tons. The anthracite output amounted to 91,367,305 tons, a decrease of 259,659 compared with 1913, and the bituminous production was 145,884,530 tons, a decrease of 27,081,129 tons compared with the previous year. The number of persons employed in and about the mines last year was 376,831.
Some Quaint Tricks of the Numeral Nine.
There are some curious facts and fancies connected with numbers. The number nine is, perhaps, the first as regards such experiments, although number seven is more prominent in literature and history. When you once use it you can’t get rid of it. It will turn up again, no matter what you do to put it “down and out.”
All through the multiplication table the product of nine comes to nine. No matter what you multiply with or how many times you repeat or change the figures, the result is always the same.
For instance, twice nine equals eighteen; add eight and one, and you have nine. Three times nine equals twenty-seven; two and seven make nine again. Go on until you try eleven times nine equals ninety-nine. This seems to bring an exception. But add the digits—nine and nine make eighteen; and again, one and eight make nine. Go on to an indeterminable extent and the thing continues. Take any number at random. For example, 450 times nine equals 4,050, and the digits, added, make nine once more. Take 6,000 times 9, equals, 54,000, and again you have five and four.
Take any rows of figures, reverse the order, and subtract the lesser from the greater—the difference will certainly be always nine or a multiple of nine. For example, 5,071 minus 1,705 equals 3,366. Add these digits and you have eighteen, and one and eight make the familiar nine.
You have the same result no matter how you raise the numbers by squares and cubes.
One more way is given by which number nine shows its strange powers. Write down any number you please, add its digits, and then subtract the sum of said digits from the original number. No matter what numbers you start with, the sum of the digits in the answer will be nine.