Tag: December 1902

Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for December 1902, Part II: Found Organizing for the United Mine Workers of America in West Virginia

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Quote Mother Jones, God s Cause, Scranton Tb p1, Aug 7, 1902—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday January 24, 1903
Mother Jones News Round-Up for December 1902, Part II
Found Organizing in West Virginia for the United Mine Workers

From the Clarksburg Daily Telegram (West Virginia) of December 27, 1902: 

“MOTHER” JONES VISITS CLARKSBURG
———-
Upon Her Return From the New River District
-On Her Way to Tunnelton
to Make an Address to Miners.
———-

Talked Freely of Strike Conditions
in Other Sections of the State
-Compliments Jackson but Has no Flattery for Goff.

Mother Jones, Socialist Spirit p19, Aug 1902

“Mother” Jones, the noted strike and labor agitator, arrived in the city Friday evening on No. 12 from the New River district. She reports conditions in that field unsettled and the strike unended. Many miners are residing in camps and there is considerable suffering. She paid her compliments to both Judge John J. Jackson and Judge Nathan Goff. She thinks Judge Jackson has a tender spot in his heart but entertains a different opinion of Judge Goff. Her remarks about the latter were not at all flattering. She left Saturday morning for Tunnelton to address a mass meeting of miners there Saturday night.

She believes the Roosevelt commission’s work will be of much benefit to the miners’cause, especially in the way of moulding public opinion. She also thinks that some beneficial legislation will result from the investigation of the commission. She expressed herself as gratified with what she termed a more liberal spirit on the part of the press toward the miners.

She reviewed briefly prevalent conditions in some sections of the southern part of this state. She says the miners are allowed the regulation weight and the short ton and they have the privilege of buying at the pluck-me store as she terms it or elsewhere. There is nothing compulsory about it. She thought under those circumstances that the strike had been beneficial to the miners.

Inquiry was made by her as to what was doing around here. She made no comment when informed that all was quiet and we were running along in the even tenor of our ways.

“Mother” Jones was in her usual splendid health and was quite talkative and courteous.

While in the city she was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. D. W. McGeorge in Glen Elk.

[Photograph added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for December 1902, Part I: Saved from Suspicious Hotel Fire; Attends Celebration for John Mitchell

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones Mine Supe Bulldog of Capitalism—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday January 23, 1903
Mother Jones News Round-Up for December 1902, Part I
W. V: Saved from Suspicious Hotel Fire; Ill: Attends Celebration for Mitchell

From The Richmond Dispatch (Virginia) of December 3, 1902:

TO BURN “MOTHER” JONES.
———-
This Seemed the Object of Incendiaries
at Montgomery, W. Va.Mother Jones,

Mother Jones, Socialist Spirit p19, Aug 1902

PARKERSBURG, VA., December 3.-(Special.)—”Mother” Jones, the friend of the miners, narrowly escaped with her life from a burning hotel at Montgomery, early this morning.

Mrs. A. R. Wagoner, the wife of the proprietor of the Montgomery Hotel, was aroused from her slumbers and gave the alarm. The room occupied by “Mother” Jones was full of smoke when she wakened, and in a short time she would have been suffocated.

The fire was of incendiary origin, starting in a room that had not been occupied for three days. The hotel has been on fire three times within the past few weeks, and it is supposed that it was because “Mother” Jones was stopping there.

John C. Todd, one of the guests, had a hip fractured by jumping from the third story window. All the guests lost most of their valuables and clothing.

[Photograph added.]

From Hinton Daily News (West Virginia) of December 6, 1902

Mother Jones was at Beckley yesterday and made a speech at the labor meeting.

From the Duluth Labor World of December 13, 1902:

Mother Jones was nearly suffocated in a hotel fire at Montgomery, W. Va., this week. The fire was of incendiary origin. The coal operators would not be sorry to learn that Mother Jones lost her life, and it is not improbable that some of their thugs had something to do with firing the hotel.

From the Chicago Inter Ocean of December 15, 1902:

MITCHELL IS HERE; RECEIVES OVATION
———-
Mine Workers’ Chief Greeted by Chicago Labor Men.
———-

HAS LITTLE TO SAY
———-
Refuses to Discuss Matters Before the Commission.
———-
Goes to Spring Valley Today for Reception
and Will Hasten Back to Scranton.
———-

John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers of America and the most prominent figure in the labor movement today, arrived in Chicago at 10:30 o’clock last night. He will leave at 9:15 o’clock this morning for his home in Spring Valley, where a public demonstration is planned in his honor by the residents of that city.

The train on which Mr. Mitchell arrived was delayed seven hours on account of a snowstorm, but the friends who had gathered to greet him waited patiently for his arrival. The Cabdrivers’ union sent a carriage to the depot, and he was driven to McCoy’s hotel, where he was given an ovation by the crowd in waiting in the rotunda.

[…..]

“Mother” Jones Here.

At the same hotel is “Mother” Jones, the socialist agitator and organizer of the miners of the country. She will be one of the speakers at the reception at Spring Valley today. Mrs. Jones is almost as popular among the miners as Mr. Mitchell, and while she shakes her head over the probable outcome of the investigation of the commission, she is rejoicing that the actual condition existing in the mines are being held up to the public.

[She said:]

I have been preaching about those conditions for years, but the world refused to listen. It is listening now, and whatever the final outcome may be it cannot fail to be an advantage to the suffering miners. 

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for December 1902, Part I: Saved from Suspicious Hotel Fire; Attends Celebration for John Mitchell” →

Hellraisers Journal: Testimony of Miners, Wives and Children, of Pennsylvania Anthracite, Brings Commissioners to Tears

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Evicted Miners Baby Dies on Roadside, Evl Jr Ns p3, Sept 28, 1902—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday December 21, 1902
Scranton, Pennsylvania – Misery of Miners’ Lives Describe Before Coal Commission

From the Butte Labor World of December 19, 1902:

PA Miners Slave Pens, Btt Lbr Wld p1, Dec 19, 1902

The other day members of the strike commission wept when a miner told his simple, straightforward story of incredible ill-treatment-of inhumanity that astounded the judges.

The veil was raised a few inches higher-and the commissioners were astonished as they looked beyond. Bishop Spalding swung around in his chair, turning his back upon the courtroom to hide his tears. Assistant Recorder Mosely made no attempt to hide his. Judge Gray’s face was white and there were hard, indignant lines about his mouth as he echoed the words of the coal trust lawyer: “Yes, that is all,” adding, “and it is enough!”

If there be lower depth of human misery than those in which these miners live they have never been fathomed.

Millions have wept over the sorrows that plied upon Jean Valjean, but Victor Hugo’s hero was never a more heartrending type of misery than was old Henry Coll [Call] as he told how he had bent his back under the brutal yoke of men who have posed before the country as philanthropists and claimed a God-given right to this positions as employers of labor.

Coll had had every bone in his body, except his neck, broken in the service of these people; and after the strike had been turned out of his house-a poor place, it is true, but the only home he knew-with a sick wife, her hundred-year-old mother, his son and the children to two comrades who had been killed at work, and with whom he in his charity had shared his home. They had been turned out at a moment’s notice into the cold street to perish. His wife had died as the result of the exposure and he had just come from burying her to tell his story.

Then there was the tale of Kate Burns. Her husband had been killed also working for these taskmasters, and to live she had sent her little boys to the breakers. There they had slaved for 78 cents a day, but never received a cent of pay in fourteen years, their earnings being applied by the company to paying the rent, while she, by washing and scrubbing, had earned barely enough to support the little family.

It is the rich men who imposed hardships like these upon those who work for them that refused to arbitrate and insulted the president when he suggested it.

But the veil is up and the horrors behind it are being laid bare for all the world to see.-N. Y. American.

—————

MARKLE’S SLAVES TELL OF THE EVILS
———-

Tuesday, December 9, was a day of horrors at Scranton, Pa., for those who listened to the evidence before the strike commission. The pathetic stories of the former witnesses were almost forgotten as the stories of still more unfortunate slaves of the miners were told.

John Markle, who had almost achieved the reputation as the philanthropist of the coal field, was not present to contradict, the stories of his employes, nor was there any legal representative to attempt to discredit these stories or to soften their influence upon the members of the commission…..

[Emphasis added.]

Note: the article goes on to describe testimony from:

Mrs. Kate Burns, widow: husband killed in mines, children forced to work in mines,  forced to go to work washing and cleaning as soon as baby born.

Henry Coll: Evicted with wife, children and very elderly mother-in-law, had been severely injured in mines, wife ill when family evicted and died shortly thereafter.

Michael Baker: age 18, had frequently been clubbed, beaten and sworn at by breaker boss.

Ella Chippe [Chippa], widow: husband died in mines, son (Andrew) forced to work as breaker boy, son’s pay taken to pay debts, baby born after death of husband.

Mary Ann Raber, widow: husband killed in mines with Mrs. Chippe’s husband, four children to support, son sent to work in mines,

Testimony given by miners proves that they are over-charged for doctor’s fees, for powder, and underpaid for the coal they mined due to coal cars continually increasing in size. Price of groceries increased by 30% since 1900.

—————

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for November 1902, Part II: Found in Baltimore, Maryland, and with Striking Miners of West Virginia

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones to Wayland fr WV Wind Blows Cold, AtR p4, Nov 1, 1902—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday December 19, 1902
Mother Jones News Round-Up for November 1902, Part II
Found in Baltimore, Maryland, and in New River Strike Zone of West Virginia

From the Baltimore Sun of November 21, 1902:

MOTHER JONES IN TOWN
———-
Miners’ Friend Calls On Officials
To Stop Immigration.

Mother Jones at Cooper Un, Ryan Walker, Comrade p28, Nov 1902

Mother Jones, the friend of the coal miners, arrived in Baltimore yesterday unannounced. She proceeded at once to hunt up Mr. Thomas A. Smith, chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, introduced herself and started to make known the object of her visit.

[She said:]

I have come here for the purpose of putting a stop to immigrants being brought into this country and employed by coal operators to take the places of the regular miners in the New River district of West Virginia.

Chief Smith laid aside his eyeglasses and took a quiet survey of Mother Jones, who had seated herself in a chair and was tapping the floor impatiently with her foot. Before Mr. Smith could make any statement Mother Jones began to give him and his assistant, Mr. Jacob Schoufarber, a full detailed account of the alleged indignities suffered by the miners at the hands of the operators. After she had finished he statement Mother Jones was referred to the office of the United States Immigration Bureau at the Custom House.

Mother Jones reached the Custom House in due time and was met by Assistant Commissioner Stump. To Mr. Stump she repeated her complaint, and Mr. Stump told her that if she could furnish the bureau with the names of immigrants who had been employed on the other side by the coal miners he would be very glad to look into the case.

“The proper course for you to pursue, madam,” he said, “is to write to Commissioner General F. P. Sargent, giving him all the data you can obtain in the matter.”

“Yes,” said Mother Jones with a long sigh, “that is just what I was told to do with Mr. Powderly when he was in office, and Powderly is a pretty good chap and I believe he kept his seat warm while he was in office.”

“But Mr. Powderly is not there now,” said Mr. Stump, “Mr. Sargent Is in charge.”

[Said Mother Jones:]

Oh, yes, I know him too; he is a jolly old chap, but he has let more immigrants into this country than even Powderly did. These mine owners are a sharp crowd to deal with. They have their agents on the other side and they coach the immigrants what to say when they come here. They are not shipped direct to the coal mines, but are sent in through Wheeling and other points, and when they get there they are herded in stockades with guards all around them and we cannot get anywhere near them.

Mr. Stump reminded his visitor that the proper person to receive her complaint would be Commissioner-General Sargent. She then left the office.

Mother Jones is a little woman, short, but stockily built, with iron gray hair, and speaks very forcibly. She has been called “Mother Jones” by reason of her interest in the welfare of the miners.

[Photograph added.]

From The Chattanooga News of November 27, 1902:

STRIKERS BRACE UP
———-
“Mother” Jones Puts New Heart and Life
Into West Virginia Coal Miners.
———-

Charleston, W. Va., Nov. 27.-The strikers in the New River mining field are making their last stand, encouraged by the magnetism of Mother Jones, who arrived there from Scranton, Pa., where she had expected to testify before the anthracite strike commission.

The West Virginia strike began June 7. It fizzled in the Fairmont field because of the federal injunctions issued by Judge Jackson. A few months ago settlements were reached in the Pocahontas and Kanawha regions, where the men gained notable concessions.

It would be hard to find a more determined band of men than the New River strikers. It was to this field Gov. White sent state troops during the summer and there followed the evictions of thousands of families. The cold weather has been a severe test, but the men are determined to win.

New River has a larger output than any other in West Virginia field and at least 5,000 men are involved in the strike. The United Mine Workers’ Union is caring for them and President Mitchell may soon assume direct charge.

John Richards, president of district No. 17, United Mine Workers, has tendered his resignation, it is understood, under pressure from his conferees, who represented to him that he was the only man who had stood between the miners and operators. The operators absolutely refused to treat with Richards, but intimated that a settlement could be reached if he were out of the way.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for November 1902, Part I: Found Speaking in New York City, Standing with Strikers in West Virginia

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones to Wayland fr WV Wind Blows Cold, AtR p4, Nov 1, 1902—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 18, 1902
Mother Jones News Round-Up for November 1902, Part I
Found Speaking in New York City and Standing with Striking Miners of West Virginia

From The Comrade of November 1902:

Mother Jones at Cooper Un, Ryan Walker, Comrade p28, Nov 1902
Mother Jones at Cooper Union, New York City, October 18, 1902
by Ryan Walker

———-

Sieverman n Mother Jones, Comrade p28, Nov 1902Frank Sieverman and Mother Jones

From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of November 1, 1902:

MOTHER JONES’S LECTURE.
———-
Discussed Social and Political Topics
at the Criterion Theater.
———-

“Mother” Jones lectured before a good sized audience last evening in the Criterion Theater on social and political topics. The audience was evidently in sympathy wiih her views, for she was frequently interrupted with applause and her introduction was the signal for an ovation that must have been flattering to the venerable organizer.

“Mother” Jones is a well preserved woman of perhaps 60 years, with bright blue eyes and clear complexion, and she speaks with great force and earnestness.

Dr. Charles Furman presided at the meeting and introduced “Mother” Jones. Some enthusiastic socialist leaped up on his seat and called for three cheers for the speaker and they were given with a will.

“Mother” Jones began her address by saying the movement of the present day was along lines of progression laid down by the sages years ago, and everywhere along the line of battle the cry was forward. “To move forward is the object of socialism, and to help you in this movement is why I am here to-night.”

In referring to the recent coal miners’ strike in Pennsylvania “Mother” Jones said John Mitchell was one of God’s own noblemen and she flayed the operators in no uncertain tone. Referring to her arrest and incarceration in West Virginia, “Mother” Jones said she had been blamed by a great many people because she shook hands with the judge who sentenced her to jail. “Why shouldn’t I do so?” she cried. “The judge was not to blame. He was a victim of environment and had to perform his sworn duty to carry out the laws as he found them.” Continuing, the speaker said neither of the old parties could be trusted because both were capitalistic.

In many respects her address was disappointing. She presented no new arguments and her discourse did not differ mainly from the usual pronouncements of socialists-that is, condemnation of capital. J. P. Morgan came in for a good share of the speaker’s attention and many of her witty sallies in reference to him evoked hearty applause.

From the Appeal to Reason of November 1, 1902:

All newspaper reports to the contrary notwithstanding, the miners’ strike in West Virginia is by no means over, and a hard fight is being made in a number of districts where the operators refuse to make any concessions. “Mother” Jones writes from Montgomery, W. Va, that the utmost suffering prevails there, in consequence of the harsh measures taken by the “Christian men to whom God in His infinite wisdom has given the control of the property interests of this country.” She says: “We have fifteen hundred families of coal miners thrown out of their homes by the capitalist cannibals, and now camping on the highway. We should not talk so much about evictions in Ireland. Free America eclipses Ireland.”

—————

From Mother Jones.
Montgomery, West Va., Oct 5, 1902.

Dear Wayland: Here I am in the midst of industrial warfare with all its horrors. The wind blows cold this morning, but these cruel coal barons do not feel the winter blast; their babes, nay even their poodles dogs, are warm and have a comfortable breakfast, while these slaves of the caves, who in the past have moved the commerce of the world, are out on the highways without clothes or shelter. Nearly 3,000 families have been thrown out of the corporation shacks to face the cold blasts of winter weather. Children look into your face and their looks ask, is this what we are here for?

Is this the doctrine Jesus taught? Is this what he agonized for that frightful night in the Garden of Gethsemane 2.000 years ago? When you look at this picture of suffering, and then look into the homes of the Barons, with their joy and pleasures that these helpless people have given, then I ask Bishop Potter how he can howl “all for Jesus” on Sunday and on Monday morning drink wine at $35.00 a bottle, and sing all for Baer and Morgan.

In Pennsylvania its “shoot to kill,” in Virginia, it’s injunction them to death: Everywhere you go, you step on an injunction. Step on the Monstrous injunction. There yells a corporation lap dog, if you step on the R. R. T. the R. R. Detective yells, “Get off here, on injunction company property.” If you go into the river some one yells out “I own half that River.” Well, said I, for God’s sake give me a chance to make a deal with Peter, perhaps he might lend a rope down and swing me in the air. They will have an injunction on that soon. If you go on the public highways, to say “all for Jesus,” with a crowd of strikers, it is an unlawful assemblage-no one can do that but Potter and Morgan-you must be a sky pilot, an looking for Morgan.

MOTHER JONES.

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Saved from Incendiary Fire Set Near Her Hotel Room at Montgomery, West Virginia

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Quote Mother Jones Mine Supe Bulldog of Capitalism—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 4, 1902
Montgomery, West Virginia – Mother Jones Saved from Hotel Fire

From The Richmond Dispatch (Virginia) of December 3, 1902:

TO BURN “MOTHER” JONES.
———-
This Seemed the Object of Incendiaries
at Montgomery, W. Va.

Mother Jones , Phl Inq p24, June 22, 1902

PARKERSBURG, VA., December 3.-(Special.)—”Mother” Jones, the friend of the miners, narrowly escaped with her life from a burning hotel at Montgomery, early this morning.

Mrs. A. R. Wagoner, the wife of the proprietor of the Montgomery Hotel, was aroused from her slumbers and gave the alarm. The room occupied by “Mother” Jones was full of smoke when she wakened, and in a short time she would have been suffocated.

The fire was of incendiary origin, starting in a room that had not been occupied for three days. The hotel has been on fire three times within the past few weeks, and it is supposed that it was because “Mother” Jones was stopping there.

John C. Todd, one of the guests, had a hip fractured by jumping from the third story window. All the guests lost most of their valuables and clothing.

—————

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

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