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Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday November 20, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for October 1900, Part II
Mother Jones with Army of Women Shuts Down Lattimer
From The Scranton Times of October 6, 1900:
Hazleton, Pa.. Oct. 6. The striking miners here made a raid on the Lattimer colliery this morning and executed a unique coup. Sheriff Harvey, with a number of deputies and coal and iron police, were on hand to protect the miners who have remained at work at the colliery.
The company also made thorough preparations for offensive and defensive warfare against the raiders. They were determined to keep their miners at work, but they failed to count on the cunning of “Mother” Jones, who was operating with the raiders.She, with a small band of strikers, entered the company store and persuaded the workmen to follow her out into the road.She kept the men there talking to them, and the sheriff and his deputies directed all their attention to the woman. In the meantime other strikers made a detour of the mine property and talked with the men they found at work. As a result all of these men laid down their tools and left for home, and the mine is now closed tight…..———-
From the Philadelphia Times of October 6, 1900:
LATEST CONCESSIONS ANOTHER VICTORY
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Independent Operators Brought to the
Same Terms as the Railroads Offer.(Written for The Times by “Mother” Jones).
Hazleton, October 5.
The story of the strike to-day is easily told. The independent operators like Markle and Pardee, who have found that old-time ruses are useless and have agreed to the ten per cent. raise and the peculiar powder proposition of the Lehigh Valley Railroad to-day, and have announced that, with the railroads, they will listen to any other grievances the men have to submit. Mr. Markle will do the latter, especially as this savors so truly of his famous arbitration scheme. What the men will do every one of the 139,000 strikers knows. Fully 5,000 know Mr. Markle. The concessions offered by the individual operators simply constitute another victory for the strikers and is one of many more than are coming in the future. Our list of grievances are in the hands of the operators.
Mary Jones.
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From the Philadelphia Times of October 7, 1900:
HOW LATTIMER WAS FINALLY CLOSED———-One of the Most Remarkable Demonstrations
Ever Known.From a Staff Correspondent [who witnessed the event].Hazleton, October 6.Between 4,000 and 5,000 miners and women, led by “Mother” Jones, made one of the most sensational marches of the present struggle early this morning upon Lattimer, the property of the Pardees, where twenty-seven men were shot down by deputies in 1897, and as a result every breaker in the locality was closed and 500 men quit work, thus tying up the last large mine in this vicinity. Sheriff Harvey and his few deputies were taken by surprise, and after vainly trying to stem the tide the Sheriff leaped into his wagon and returned to Hazleton, where be telephoned to General Gohin for troops. The latter referred the Sheriff to Governor Stone, who replied that he would consider the call.The only mines now working near here are Cranberry and Beaver Meadow, where a march has been planned for Monday or Tuesday…..———-
From The Scranton Times of October 9, 1900:
National Organizer Frederick Dilcher reached this city this afternoon. He came direct from Hazleton and will remain here until after the convention. On reaching this city he went directly to the headquarters of District No. 1, and for a time before going to lunch was closeted with Secretary Dempsey. Mr. Dilcher said that he expected that Mr. Mitchell and members of the executive board would reach this city at 10:08 o’clock tomorrow morning. Mr. Dilcher said: “Wc expect a big demonstration tomorrow and I understand all arrangements have been completed for the event.” In speaking of the convention to be held here on Friday, he would not commit himself as to his opinion of the probable outcome……WILL REACH HERE TOMORROW.
President Mitchell and the members of the executive board will reach this city tomorrow morning on the 10:08 D. & H. C. train and will probably remain here until a settlement is reached. Among those who will accompany President Mitchell here are Secretary Wilson, “Mother” Jones, National Organizer Frederick Dilcher, Benjamin James, R. N. Courtright, President Duffy, of District No. 7; President Fahey, of District No. 9, and President T. D. Nichols of District No. 1. President Mitchell’s headquarters will be located at the St. Charle’s hotel.
From the Wilkes-Barre Times of October 10, 1900:
Scranton, Oct. 10.
(Special to Wilkes-Barre TIMES.)
The monster demonstration of the United Mine Workers was held in this city to-day. It is estimated that about eighteen thousand men and boys were in line. The parade was headed by Grand Marshall William Fitzsimmons, while Thomas Davis acted as chief of staff…..Seventy-five breaker boys in their working clothes walked from Pittston to march in the parade.
The line of march was as follows; Wyoming avenue to Linden, to Adams, to Vine., to Washington; thence to the Ash street grounds where the men were addressed by President Mitchell, Fred Dilcher, “Mother” Jones, Benjamin James and a number of others.
There were six divisions in the parade, comprising miners from Forest City to Pittston. The town was handsomely decorated for the occasion by the business men.
NO FURTHER CONCESSIONS FROM THE OPERATORS.
SCRANTON, Pa., Oct. 10-A few of the representative independent operators here were approached this morning with a view of getting their final answer to the demand of further concessions before the assembling of the miners’ convention here on Friday. The operators say they have offered all they can afford and that it will be useless for the miners to try to force any further concessions; but should the convention accept the offer already made, they will be ready to resume operations Monday morning. “Ten per cent. advance is our limit and we will not concede another point,” said the spokesman…..
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Note: emphasis added throughout.
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SOURCES & IMAGES
Quote Mother Jones re Lattimer Raid Oct 6, 1900, Ab p87, 1925
https://archive.iww.org/history/library/MotherJones/autobiography/11/
The Scranton Times
(Scranton, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 6, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/534727715/
-Oct 9, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/534727773/
The Times
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 6, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/53783250/
-Oct 7, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/53783261/
Wilkes-Barre Times
(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
-Oct 10, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/391538374/
See also:
Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 19, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for October 1900, Part I
Found in Pennsylvania Supporting Great Anthracite Strike
-for more on the Lattimer Raid, see”
Oct 6, 1900 – The New York Evening World
“Called for Aid of Troops-Mother Jones Led 2,000 Strikers to Lattimer Mines”
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1900-10-06/ed-1/seq-2/
Oct 7, 1900 – Philadelphia Times
“How Lattimer Was Closed, 5,000 miners and women led by Mother Jones.”
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63649334/oct-7-1900-philadelphia-times-how/
The Autobiography of Mother Jones
CH Kerr, 1925
https://archive.iww.org/history/library/MotherJones/autobiography/
Chapter 11 – Those Mules Won’t Scab Today
https://archive.iww.org/history/library/MotherJones/autobiography/11/
Lattimer was an eye-sore to the miners. It seemed as if no one could break into it. Twenty-six organizers and union men had been killed in that coal camp in previous strikes. Some of them had been shot in the back. The blood of union men watered the highways. No one dared go in.
I said nothing about it but made up my mind that I was going there some night. After the raid of the women in Coaldale in the Panther Creek, the general manager of Lattimer said that if I came in there I would go out a corpse. I made no reply but I set my plans and I did not consult an undertaker.
From three different camps in the Panther Creek I had a leader bring a group of strikers to a junction of the road that leads into Lattimer. There I met them with my army of women again. As I was leaving the hotel the clerk said, “Mother, the reporters told me to ring their bell if I saw you go out.”
“Well, don’t see me go out. Watch the front door carefully and I will go out the back door.”
We marched through the night, reaching Lattimer just before dawn. The strikers hid themselves in the mines. The women took up their position on the door steps of the miners’ shacks. When a miner stepped out of his house to go to work, the women started mopping the step, shouting, “No work today!”
Everybody came running out into the dirt streets. “God, it is the old mother and her army,” they were all saying.
The Lattimer miners and the mule drivers were afraid to quit work. They had been made cowards. They took the mules, lighted the lamps in their caps and started down the mines, not knowing that I had three thousand miners down below ground waiting for them and the mules.
“Those mules won’t scab today,” I said to the general manager who was cursing everybody. “They know it is going to be a holiday.”
“Take those mules down!!” shouted the general manager.
Mules and drivers and miners disappeared down into the earth. I kept the women singing patriotic songs so as to drown the noise of the men down in the mines.
Directly the mules came up to the surface without a driver, and we women cheered for the mules who were the first to become good Union citizens. They were followed by the miners who began running home. Those that didn’t go up were sent up. Those that insisted on working and thus defeating their brothers were grabbed by the women and carried to their wives.
An old Irish woman had two sons who were scabs. The women threw one of them over the fence to his mother. He lay there still. His mother thought he was dead and she ran into the house for a bottle of holy water and shook it over Mike.
“Oh for God’s sake, come back to life,” she hollered.
“Come back and join the union.” He opened his eyes and saw our women standing around him. “Sure, I’ll go to hell before I’ll scab again,’ says he.
The general manager called the sheriff who asked me to take the women away. I said “Sheriff, no one is going to get hurt, no property is going to be destroyed but there are to be no more killings of innocent men here.”
I told him if he wanted peace he should put up a notice that the mines were closed until the strike was settled.
The day was filled with excitement. The deputies kept inside the office; the general manager also. Our men stayed up at the mines to attend to the scabs and the women did the rest. As a matter of fact the majority of the men those with any spirit left in them after years of cowardice, wanted to strike but had not dared. But when a hand was held out to them, they took hold and marched along with their brothers.
The bosses telephoned to John Mitchell that he should take me and my army of women out of Lattimer. That was the first knowledge that Mitchell had of my being there.
When the manager saw there was no hope and that the battle was won by the miners, he came out and put up a notice that the mines were closed until the strike was settled.
I left Lattimer with my army of women and went up to Hazelton. President Mitchell and his organizers were there. Mr. Mitchell said, “Weren’t you afraid to go in there!”
“No,” I said,
“I am not afraid to face any thing if facing it may bring relief to the class that I belong to.”
The victory of Lattimer gave new life to the whole anthracite district. It gave courage to the organization. Those brave women I shall never forget who caused those stone walls to fall by marching around with tin pans and cat calls.
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I Am A Union Woman – Deborah Holland