———-
Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 19, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for October 1900, Part I
Found in Pennsylvania Supporting Great Anthracite Strike
From the Wilkes-Barre Daily News of October 1, 1900:
GAINS IN SCHUYLKILL.
POTTSVILLE Pa.,- Sept. 29.-About 1,500 miner., attended the mass meeting to-night of the United Mine Worker, of America. The meeting was addressed by President John Fahey, of District No. 9: Miles Dougherty, of Shamokin.k and Mother Mary Jones. Mr. Fahey said if inexperienced men were taken into the mines the death rate from explosions and other causes would be enormous. Statistics, he said, show that with inexperienced men the list of killed has numbered 30,-000 in twenty-five years. It is estimated that 2,000 strikers were added to the ranks to-day in this (Schuylkill) region .
———-
[Photograph added.]
From the Philadelphia Times of October 2, 1900:
MINERS WILL NOT ACCEPT HALF WAY VICTORY
———-(Written for The Times by “Mother” Jones, the” famous labor leader.)
Hazleton, October 1.
The report that, the strike is likely to be settled without any more concessions being made by the operators is, as slated in The Times to-day, premature and should not be considered as truthful. The strike will never be called off for a ten per cent. increase alone, or even with the decrease in the price of powder. The United Mine Workers are too well organized to accept half way measures of relief.
There has not been a single break in the ranks to far. I have been all over the district and I can say the reports circulated by several operators that they have more men at work now than at any time since the strike are false. In the majority of the mines working only bosses, foremen, firemen, engineers and similar employes are at work. All of these reports are transparent dodges to frighten the men into returning to work. No one, however, pays much attention to them and they have had no effect. They are denied by the mine workers simply to prevent the unwary and those who are not familiar with what is transpiring from being deceived.
MARY JONES.
From the Wilkes-Barre Times of October 2, 1900:
LABOR’S “GREATEST DAY IN THE CITY.
———-THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS SEEN
ON PARADE THIS AFTERNOON.
—–Many Fine Bands in Line-The Great Labor Leaders, Mitchell, Dilcher, Nichols, James and the Famous Mother Jones Occupy Carriages. The Parade is Viewed by Many Thousands of Admiring People-General Good Order Prevails.
The largest army of laboring men ever seen in this section of the country marched to the music of bands in this city to-day. It was labor’s greatest day of history. Fully twenty-five thousand men and boys of the great coal corporations’ employes, demonstrated their strength in a peaceful manner that carried with it the assurance that they were manful, and honestly determined to win a struggle that has startled the entire labor world. Fifty thousand people lined the streets of the city to witness this demonstration, extend their applause and approval and communicate their endorsement of the cause of the men. It was labor’s greatest day in this State and those who did not witness the parade missed a sight that may never again be seen in this or any other region.
If public opinion was ever vented, it mas vented to-day. Not a man woman or child that went to make up the fifty thousand spectators refrained from applauding and giving expression to their feelings while their fellows passed along the routs of parade.
As to details:
October 2 will go into history as one of the greatest labor days in the history of the country. With one hundred and thirty-nine thousand of total of one hundred and forty-two thousand men of the entire anthracite region in idleness awaiting an adjustment of grievances and an advance in wages, and arrangements completed for a mammoth parade of thirty thousand of this number, it may be termed one of the greatest days in the world’s history of labor and labor unionism.
The morning dawned bright and clear and an ideal day was assured. The assurance brought forth the crowds and before noon strikers’ headquarters at Koons’s Hall, East Market street was filled to the doors, and a mighty army of two hundred or more occupied the streets in the neighborhood.
[…..]
MITCHELL ARRIVES.
When Lehigh Valley train No. 1 arrived at 1:25 this afternoon there were no less than three thousand on the platform of the depot awaiting to catch a glimpse of the leader of the great strike. He was bombarded with greetings of welcome on all sides and cheers and shouts that lasted fully five minutes went up from a thousand throats. He viewed the people calmly and extended his hand in nearly every direction but was unable to shake the hands of those anxious to extend him that greeting. As the party left the depot in carriages the crowds yelled and shouted and when the Valley Hotel was reached the crowd surged round and everybody seemed anxious to get a glimpse of President Mitchell.
ORGANIZER DILCHER SPEAKS.
Among those to arrive at an early hour were District Organizer Fred Dilcher and “Mother” Mary Jones. They came from the Panther Creek district where they delivered two addresses last night and organized a local union of one hundred and fifty members. Mother Jones spoke chiefly to the breaker boys among whom she is a great favorite. They went to Hotel Hart to rest.
Mr. Dilcher in speaking of the efforts to bring out the men of the Panther Creek region said that they were meeting with success.
The strike is already won. Of the 142,000 men in the anthracite coal fields there are but three thousand at work and before two days more have passed these too will have joined the army…When the operators conclude that it is to their interest to deal with the United Mine Workers of America and make satisfactory concessions to their miners then settlement will be thought of.
THE PARADE STARTS.
Promptly at 2:05 the order to march was given by Grand Marshall Fallon and the parade was on. The bands were numerous and the men marched like trained soldiers. It required an hour for the paraders to make any perceptible cut on the line of route.
FORMATION OF THE PARADE.
The parade was as follows:
Platoon of Police.
Carriages, containing President Mitchell,
Rev. Father Ducey, Fred Dilcher,
“Mother” Mary Jones, Benjamin James,
F. Persall. T. D. Nichols, and others.[The carriages were followed by six divisions of marching miners under the banners of U. M. W. Locals from surrounding towns, each division led by a band or drum corps.]
[…..]
“Mother” Mary Jones naturally caught the hearts of the woman contingent along the route, and as her carriage passed there was a constant flutter of handkerchiefs. The men united in the chorus ‘ Mother” Jones is all right.
[…..]
———-
From The Philadelphia Inquirer of October 3, 1900
-Photographs from grand parade and mass meeting of striking miners at Wilkes-Barre on October 2nd:
———-
From the Philadelphia Times of October 3, 1900:
From the Wilkes-Barre Leader of October 4, 1900:
Mother Jones Speaks.
Mother Jones, who is working with the organizers of the United Mine Workers, gave out the following statement. She said:
We will win. It is in the air, it is in the [latest] offer of the operators. But we want more than ten per cent. increase in wages and a reduction of the price of powder to $1.50. And when the operators make an offer that we’ll accept, they must agree to keep it at leasts year. The sliding scale must be done away with, it only slides money into the pockets of the operators.
Will this strike last if the operators remain stubborn?
Just as sure as the sky is blue above us it will. I know it because I have talked with the women of the coal region. What they say goes further and means more than the men. They are the real strikers. The burden is heavier on their shoulders than on the men. They suffer more. Some of them are suffering now. I know of several cases. I have talked with the women of the miners, their wives and daughters. They are enthusiastic for the strike, and they won’t let the men give in until they win.
There should be wore woman organizers connected with these big labor unions. I think they do better work than the men. The men can speak at the meetings, but they cannot go to the homes of the families. They cannot talk to the women and the children. It is different with a woman. She strikes right at the home. She can argue with the wives and the mothers. It is the wives and mothers who form the opinions of their husbands and sons. It is not the local meetings and the speeches and the marchings which make strikes, but the home influences, the home arguments and the home opinions. That is why women organizers are better than men in many respects and that is why the women are the real strikers, they have more to gain if victory comes, they have more to loose in defeat than the men.
From the Wilkes-Barre Record Times of October 5, 1900
-description of speech given by Mother Jones at mass meeting of striking miners at Wilkes-Barre on October 2nd:
“Mother” Jones followed [Fred Dilcher], addressing herself to the audience as fellow toilers.
[She said:]
This demonstration marks a new era in the industrial history of the world. We have to have more security than a notice posted up by a boss for a raise. You want 20 per cent. and you will get it. We are marching on to the day when the operators will have to dig coal. They tell you we are foreigners. What about Queen Victoria, who controls the Illinois Central Railroad, and the Czar of Russia, who owns stock in all the railroads in Pennsylvania. Our brains are not in our feet, for we have not yet been turned upside down. We claim the right as women to go to the factories if we want to. The eyes of the civilized world are upon you, so be peaceful and calm. From England comes greetings of one million and a half of federated labor; from Germany comes greetings from 800,000 and from France another million. Do not become weak kneed and pledge yourselves on your lives to stay out until victory crowns your banners. Then we will have eight hours a day and $3 for the work. Stand shoulder to shoulder.
She said she had a right to talk to the men, as she rocked the cradle that nurtured the union and will never give up until unions are recognized throughout the land.
We are no longer afraid of Gatling guns and we do not propose to use bullets either, but ballots this fall. Be good, be sober and you will soon get in out of the wet.
From the Philadelphia Times of October 5, 1900:
WOMEN HAVE BEEN AN IMPORTANT FACTOR
———-(Written for The Times by “Mother” Jones, the famous woman labor leader.)
Hazleton, October 4.
We have now fully one-third of that quiet but powerful factor in the present strike, the women of the mine workers, organized in some of the districts and will soon begin to have them organized in other districts. I have been at work particularly in the Schuylkill region and I desire to say that it was these women who succeeded in closing up that district tightly in about one-third of the time required to stop work in Wyoming, Lackawanna and Schuylkill. And I can also say that the same forces are going to keep the men in line longer than any other force under God’s heaven. Men suffer for principle, but women die for right, and this strike will prove the old adage true again when a man’s mother, wife, sister and daughter urges him on. Any one who knows home love and life would not like to be part of the opposing force.
There has been another force also that has been just and honest in the struggle. It has been some of the greatest newspapers of the country. One of these is The Times, and the Mine Workers will not forget what it has done for truth and justice in this struggle.
Mary Jones
Note: emphasis added throughout.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCES
Wilkes-Barre Daily News
(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 1, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/204289132/
The Times
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 2, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/53783201/
-Oct 3, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/53783211/
-Oct 5, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/53783237/
Wilkes-Barre Times
((Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 2, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/391538048/
The Philadelphia Inquirer
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 3, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/168085922
Wilkes-Barre Leader
(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 4, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/394973931/
Record Times
(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 5, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/390899382/
IMAGE
Mother Jones, at Her Lecture Stand, Detail, Phl Iq p1, Sept 24, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/167226270/
See also:
Hellraisers Journal – Friday October 12, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1900, Part I
Found Working with Pennsylvania Miners Ready to Strike
Hellraisers Journal – Saturday October 13, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1900, Part II
Found in Pennsylvania Supporting Great Anthracite Strike
Tag: Great Anthracite Strike of 1900
https://weneverforget.org/tag/great-anthracite-strike-of-1900/
“The Anthracite Miners’ Strike of 1900”
-by George O. Virtue
from Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Dec., 1900), pp. 1-23
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/250711
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They’ll Never Keep Us Down – Hazel Dickens
“Well, we’ve been shot and we’ve been jailed, Lord, it’s a sin.
Women and little children stood right by the men…”