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Hellraisers Journal – Sunday October 13, 1901
Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1901, Part II
Found at Carbondale, Pennsylvania, Golden Jubilee Celebration
From the Scranton Tribune of September 4, 1901:
BIGGER even than that of Monday was the crowd thronging Carbondale yesterday, when Labor held sway in the semi-centennial celebration.
All the industries and most of the stores were closed and their thousands of employes turned out en masse to participate in the jubilation. The mines in Carbondale and from Forest city to Archbald were idle for the third day in succession and the minters in consequence were rife for a march.
It was in fact a miners’ celebration for they composed three of the four divisions of the parade; it was their leaders who were the distinguished guests, and nearly all the events of the day had a mine flavor.
Quite appropriately it might be called “Mitchell Day.” The president of the United Mine Workers was far and away the feature of the day. He was the chief guest of honor, the principal speaker at the labor mass meeting, the honoree of the evening reception and everybody wore a Mitchell badge…
The weather was of the same delightful character as that of yesterday except in spots, and one of these was a very aggravating spot. Just as President Mitchell was warming up to the principal address of the meeting, the rain commenced to fall heavily.
The crowd seemed bent on weathering the storm but President Mitchell abruptly terminated his speech, with regrets that the meeting was interrupted…..
The first event of the day was the reception of President Mitchell and the other labor leaders who came up from Scranton on the 8:30 D. & H. train. A delegation of the Central Labor union escorted them from the station to the Harrison house and introduced to them the hundreds who were assembled to give them greetings.
The remainder of the morning was given over to the labor parade. There were nearly twenty thousand in line, including many of the most celebrated of the miners’ leaders.
At 1:30 o’clock occurred the unveiling of the tablet marking the site of the first underground anthracite mine in America. Addresses were made by Mayor Kilpatrick, Reese Hughes whose father worked in the mine; President Nicholls, of District No. 1, of the United Mine Workers; “Mother” Jones, of the American Federation of Labor, and Charles Law, son of Archibald Law, the man who opened the mine.
On Sandy’s field at 3 o’clock was begun the mass meeting, so unfortunately terminated by the rain. A large crowd listened to addresses by President Walsh, of the Central Labor union; Mayor Kilpatrick, Edward McDay, Adam Ryseavige, T. D. Nicholls and President Mitchell of the United Mine Workers.
A fantastic parade filled in the later hours of the afternoon and in the evening occurred a reception to President Mitchell, at the aHarrison house, a band concert, at city hall, receptions to visiting firemen at the local engine houses and a magnificent display of fireworks on Sandy’s field.
[…..]
[After the unveiling of tablet, as mentioned above, addresses were made and covered in detail on page 2.]
“Mother” Jones delivered the concluding talk. Her address was characteristically peppery. She flayed the capitalists and predicted the early subjugation of these “masters” of the working people, declaring that the country is on the eve of the great industrial revolution and that the opening of the twentieth century was disclosing the dawn of the glorious noon of the working people, “the twentieth century revolutionists who had the blood of Patrick Henry and Jefferson coursing in their veins and who would go to the ballot boxes crying to the capitalists to keep their hands off, that they, (the working people) were well able to look after their own rights.”
The tablet on the monument reads:
THE FIRST UNDERGROUND MINE OPENED HERE.
June, 1831, by Archibald Law, first mining engineer of the Delaware and Hudson company…
Erected in 1901, the 50th anniversary of the City of Carbondale.
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From the Philadelphia Times of September 5, 1901:
CARBONDALE’S JUBILEE ENDS
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Fire Companies Competed for Prizes in a Parade.Special to The PHILADELPHIA TIMES.
CARBONDALE, September 4.-The concluding day of Carbondale’s four days’ golden jubilee was the most spectacular. It was firemen’s day. In the morning several hundred dollars was disbursed as prizes to winners in an athletic tournament. But the feature of the day was the firemen’s parade. In it were thirty-five companies and eighteen bands.
To-night there was a labor mass meeting, at which Mother Jones, President Nicholls, of District No. 1, United Mine Workers, and others spoke. John Mitchell was to have delivered another address, but was called to New York to confer with steel strike leaders. He will, however, return to address another big labor meeting here Friday. There were also three firemen’s balls.
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SOURCES & IMAGES
Quote Mother Jones, Stormy Paths, UMWC Ipl IN, Jan 25, 1901
-MJ Speeches, Steel, p4
https://books.google.com/books?id=vI-xAAAAIAAJ
Scranton Tribune
(Scranton, Pennsylvania)
-Sept 4, 1901
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026355/1901-09-04/ed-1/seq-1/
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026355/1901-09-04/ed-1/seq-2/
The Times
(Philadelphia, Pennyslvania)
-Sept 5, 1901
https://www.newspapers.com/image/53389749
See also:
Hellraisers Journal – Saturday October 12, 1901
Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1901, Part I
Grants Interview in Cleveland, Speaks at Labor Day Celebration
Note: Scranton Tribune’s description of Mother Jones as being “of the American Federation of Labor” is an error. Mother, at this time, was an official organizer for the United Mine Workers of America and reported directly to President John Mitchell, see the following (and many other sources):
From The Indianapolis Journal of August 30, 1901:
“Mother” Jones Here.
“Mother” Jones, an official organizer of the United Mine Workers, is in the city for a few days, resting after a long campaign among the miners and children in the factories of the East and South. She will leave to-morrow for Cleveland, O., where she will deliver an address for Labor day.
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Search: Carbondale Golden Jubilee, Sept 2-5, 1901
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?state=Pennsylvania&dateFilterType=range&date1=09%2F02%2F1901&date2=09%2F05%2F1901&language=&ortext=&andtext=carbondale+golden+jubilee+&phrasetext=&proxtext=&proxdistance=5&rows=20&searchType=advanced&sort=date#tab=tab_advanced_search
May 26, 1927, Scranton PA Tribune-“Marks First Mine”-re marker unveiled Sept 1901 at Carbondale.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87081032/may-26-1927-scranton-pa/
The Travels of Mother Jones, Aug 3 to Sept 3, 1901:
Aug 3-Sewell WV, per letter from Mitchell
Aug 30-Indianapolis (372 miles) per Indianapolis Journal,
Sept 2-Cleveland (317 miles) per Cleveland Plain Dealer
Sept 3-Scranton (376 miles) per Scranton Tribune
-After a long day in Cleveland, Mother traveled overnight from Cleveland to Scranton, arriving in time to catch the 8:30 AM train from Scranton to Carbondale (25 miles) where she put in another long day.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Sewell,+WV/Indianapolis,+IN/Cleveland,+OH/Scranton,+PA/@39.6424044,-85.4013129,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m26!4m25!1m5!1m1!1s0x884ebd12600e2df5:0x6608621bf32fe73c!2m2!1d-81.018913!2d37.996941!1m5!1m1!1s0x886b50ffa7796a03:0xd68e9df640b9ea7c!2m2!1d-86.158068!2d39.768403!1m5!1m1!1s0x8830ef2ee3686b2d:0xed04cb55f7621842!2m2!1d-81.6943605!2d41.49932!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c4d93a77484bbb:0xfff27920ab9bfae8!2m2!1d-75.6624122!2d41.408969!3e0?hl=en
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Miner’s Life – Kilshannig