Tag: June 1903

Hellraisers Journal: Sister of Victim of Hanna Mine Forced to Travel Twenty Miles a Day in Order to Arrange Brother’s Funeral

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones WV Miners Conditions, ISR p179 , Sept 1901—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday July 12, 1903
Hanna, Wyoming – Sister of Victim of Mine Fire Not Allowed to Stay at Camp

From The Butte Miner of July 11, 1903:

HdLn Widow of Hanna Mine Disaster Widow at Funeral in WY, Btt Mnr p7, July 11, 1903

Mrs. Mary Cooney returned to Butte yesterday from the Hanna coal mine in Wyoming on the Union Pacific, where here brother, John Boney, met his death with 233 other miners through the recent fearful explosion of gas. Besides her grief because of the loss of her brother in so terrible a manner Mrs. Cooney reports having had a very trying experience at Hanna.

It is stated that the managers of the coal property, who virtually own and control the little mining camp, have given strict orders, both at their store and to the residents that no eatables or other supplies or entertainment should be given or sold to any strangers or visitors to the camp. It was given out that the reason for this order was that the families of the miners who were killed were all destitute and could not give up anything to new-comers.

It was not explained, however, why the company store would not provide strangers and visitors with eatables, as the railroad company that owned the mine and the camp could easily ship in any day whatever was needed.

Under these conditions Mrs. Cooney was compelled to go back and forth to Medicine Bow, a station on the railroad twenty miles distant. Mrs. Cooney was accompanied on her sad mission by her daughter, Mrs. Felix Ogier, also of Butte, and during the time taken up with the arrangements and the funeral they had to make the trip back and forth to Medicine Bow station every day.

Another act of the mine company that is complained of is the order that was given in regard to the papers and other valuables that were found in the cabins and trunks of the 234 miners who met their death. The papers and other belongings of the men were all taken to the company store, and inquiring friends and relatives, it is stated, were not allowed to have access to the property or even inspect it.

Mrs. Cooney signed papers petitioning the appointment of a resident of Hanna as administrator of her brother’s estate, and it is expected that soon, through the courts, the administrator will secure possession of the estate. Mrs. Cooney is the mother of Deputy County Clerk John Doran, of Butte.

John Boney was buried at Carbon, a station twelve miles from the scene of the awful disaster. He was laid beside his father, who died and was buried at Carbon a number of years ago.

The bodies of only two other miners besides John Boney were recovered from the blazing mine interior. The mine is on fire in every portion, and it is impossible to reach the workings where the men met their deaths, it being a great distance from the surface. The tunnel from the main entrance slopes gradually for a mile and a half, and from that point there are seventeen miles of workings on sixty-nine levels.

As all hope of rescuing the 31 bodies has been given up the work of sealing up all openings to the mine has been commenced. This step is taken with view to smothering out the flames that are raging fiercely in all parts of the mine.

It is currently believed at Hanna that the precautions being taken by the company to discourage visitors from coming to the camp and from remaining there after they do come is with the object of diminishing as much as possible the amount of evidence that will be available against the company in case of damage suits. There is considerable talk of blame being attached to the management for the disaster, and it is not desired that there should be any inspection of the conditions at the mine or interviews with the residents.

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Leads Parade of Tender Babes in Philadelphia; Speech Heartens Textile Strikers

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Mother Jones Quote ed, Suffer Little Children, CIR p10641, May 14, 1915—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday June 29, 1903
Mother Jones Speaks to Philadelphia Textile Strikers

From the Duluth Labor World of June 27, 1903:

TENDER BABES IN LARGE PARADE.
———-

BURNING DISGRACE OF PENNSYLVANIA
MANUFACTURERS.
———-

TEXTILE WORKERS FIRM FOR 55 HOURS.
———-
Mother Jones Makes Many Impassioned Speeches
and Heartens Her Hearers.
———-

Mother Jones Leads Child Workers in March to City Hall, Phl Iq p2, June 18, 1903

Philadelphia, June 26.- The events of the week here, in the textile strike, were the speeches of “Mother” Jones to crowds and the parade of the men, women and children who are heroically striving for a shorter work-day. In one day Mother Jones addressed three large meetings of textile workers, and she did much to put heart into the movement and cheer the men and women engaged in the struggle. Her impassioned addresses are just what these workers need. They hang on to her sentences, and one cannot listen to a group of strikers without hearing her terse sentences repeated.

To Strike is Honorable.

[She told them in one of her speeches:]

Americans are strikers by inheritance. The Pilgrim Fathers and the Colonists were strikers. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were the great strikers of their day, and you workingmen and women of Philadelphia need not be ashamed to strive and struggle for what is yours by right, and what must be won by you if you expect to be worthy of the inheritance handed down by your fathers.

[She continued:]

This is a city of “Brotherly Love,” indeed. There’s a whole lot of that here. Rather, it’s a city of brotherly thieves! Yes; I came here to hammer you, and I am going to do it. It serves you right that you are on strike today to get a reduction in your working hours. You elect the same old crowd year after year.

I sat in the Senate Chamber in Washington not long ago, and in one hour seven bills were passed conferring still greater powers on railroad corporations. Compare that incident with the action of some of your own representatives when the poor miners went to them to see if they couldn’t do something for the cause of labor. You should have seen the looks of cold disdain with which they were treated. They were told plainly that it was no use for them to come there and were advised strongly to go back to work.

While 147,000 miners were strike in Pennsylvania and 40,000 in West Virginia the last Congress went into the pocket of the American workingman and took $45,000-think of it, $45,000-to defray the expenses of a six weeks’ tour of a prince around the country, just because he was of royal blood! How greatly Senators Quay and Penrose and all the rest of them venerate royal blood! Fifty thousand dollars offhand for the entertainment of a prince, but not a single piece of legislation that would be likely to better the condition of the American workingman.

But it’s your own fault. Whenever you get tired of these things you’ll remedy them.

Mother Jones closed by advising the strikers to remain idle until their demands had been granted.

[She said:]

You need not fear starvation. They thought to starve the miners out, but they didn’t succeed. You are going to have plenty to eat, even if you are on strike.

Thomas Fleming, chairman of the executive committee, who, with several other strike leaders, accompanied Mother Jones to Frankford, in introducing her referred to her as “the old lady.”

Mother Jones, in reply, said:

I am not so old that I do not expect to live long enough to see you and your wives and children live as free men should, not as slaves.

Parade of Striking Children.

The parade of the strikers, Wednesday, was an object lesson that will long be remembered by those who saw it. There may have been 25,000 in line, but this was not so remarkable as was the sight of regiment after regiment of little children, some of them so small that they had to be provided with conveyances, for they could not otherwise have been in the procession. All kinds of vehicles had been tendered from the stylish coupe to the common express wagon. Many of the poor little tots were not old enough to realize what all the excitement was about. They were the living representatives of a system so cruel and merciless that future generations will wonder what sort of beasts employers were in the beginning of the twentieth century that they could for a single moment allow their machinery to be manipulated by the wan and immature flesh of what were not much better than suckling babes.

Banners That Mean Something.

The transparencies carried were plentiful and appropriate. Many touched on the question of shorter hours and of child labor. One elderly man staggered along with a banner reading:

Let God’s curses dwell with employers or parents who consign
little children to the living death of factory life.

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Hellraisers Journal: Textile Strikers of Philadelphia Gather for All-Day Picnic at Central Park; Mother Jones Speaks

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Child Labor Silk Mills, WB Dly Ns p1, May 11, 1901—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday June 25, 1903
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Speaks to Textile Strikers at Central Park

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of June 23, 1903:

Mother Jones Speaks to Philly Textile Strikers, Phl Iq p2, June 23, 1903

The opening of the fourth week of the big textile strike yesterday found no change in the conditions that have prevailed since June 1. From all sections of the city it was reported that the workers are still out in force, and there is every reason to believe that their ranks will remain unbroken until ordered back to the mills by the strike leaders.

The idle mill hands journeyed from all parts of the city yesterday to attend the all-day picnic and demonstration at Central Park, Fifth and Wyoming streets. More than a thousand of the strikers met at the headquarters of the executive committee, Kensington avenue and street, shortly after 9 o’clock in the morning and paraded to the picnic grounds. They carried banners and American flags, and as they marched up Fifth street to the park their ranks were almost doubled by the strikers dropping in line at various points. More than 5000 of the idle workers reached the park by noon, and when the mass meeting was opened in the afternoon it was difficult for all present to hear the speakers.

Mother Jones Gave Surprise

Thomas Fleming, chairman of the executive committee, was the first speaker, and announced that Mother Jones would not be present, as she had not yet returned from the coal regions. When the picturesque leader appeared at the park a few minutes later, however, she was given an ovation greater than any she has yet received since her arrival in the city.

The picnic lasted all day and the various unions played match base ball games. In addition to Mother Jones addresses were also made by F. Devlin, president of the Burlers and Menders’ Union, and D. L. Mulford.

The continuance of the strike has brought many Kensington families face to face with poverty and starvation. Although the unions are looking after their members many of the strikers are poorly organized and are dependent upon Ways and Means Committee of the Central Textile Union for support. The latter is greatly in need of funds, and the following appeal was issued yesterday:

The Ways and Means Committee, which is providing relief for the textile strikers who are in need, has had collectors in the field for more than a week, and although the response has been generous, still the amount of money received has barely exceeded the applications sent in. Therefore the Ways And Means Committee has decided to make a general appeal to the public of Philadelphia and vicinity.

There are upwards of 80,000 wage earners now idle in this city. A large proportion of these people are well organized and the various unions are taking care of them. But there are also a great number who have been recently organized and who have no funds in their treasuries, consequently they are unable to make any provision for their members. The various branches of the industry in which these recently organized people are employed are dependent upon the older organized branches, therefore when they stopped work the entire trade was at a standstill. Donations of any kind, either money, groceries or provisions, will be gratefully received by the Ways and Means Committee at the northeast corner of Third and Somerset streets.

JOHN J. PALMER,
Secretary and Treasurer.

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Hellraisers Journal: Philadelphia Textile Strikers March to City Hall with Child Workers in the Lead; Mother Jones Speaks

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Blood of Children n Christian Society Women, Toledo Mar 24, 1903—————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday June 24, 1903
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Textile Strikers March to City Hall

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of June 18, 1903:

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Arrives in Kensington to Cheer Textile Strikers, Speaks to 3000 at Labor Lyceum

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Mother Jones Stock in These Little Children, Quote, AB Chp 10—————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday June 17, 1903
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Arrives to Support Textile Strikers

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of June 15, 1903:

Mother Jones to Speak to Kensington Textile Strikers, Phil Iq p1, June 15, 1903—–Mother Jones at Kensington to Cheer Strikers, Phl Iq p11, June 15, 1903

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of June 16, 1903:

Mother Jones Speaks at Kensington Labor Lyceum PI, Phl Iq p4, June 16, 1903[…..]Mother Jones Speaks at Kensington Labor Lyceum PII, Phl Iq p4, June 16, 1903

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Hellraisers Journal: “A Comrade’s Tribute! Eugene V. Debs on the Tribune of the Proletaire: Frederic O. MacCartney.”

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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Quote EVD Capitalist Press re Socialism, ISR p181, Sept 1900—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday June 11, 1903
Eugene Debs Pays Tribute to Frederic O. MacCartney, Gone Too Soon

From the Social Democratic Herald of June 6, 1903:

—–

A COMRADE’S TRIBUTE!
Eugene V. Debs on the Tribune of the Proletaire:
Frederic O. MacCartney.

It is hard to write of the death of Frederic O. MacCartney. He belongs to the living, not the dead, and it will be long before we can realize that his eloquent voice is hushed and his great heart stilled forever. In the very spring of life-the ripening glory of his powers-he was cut down, and with such swiftness did the fatal blow descend that we who now stand over his prostrate flesh are so shocked and stunned that we cannot realize that death has come so near and snatched from us in all the flush of youth a comrade so loved and honored of us all.

Frederic MacCartney was an interesting, unique, and towering figure in the socialist movement. He had brain and heart, soul and conscience in large measure and fine proportion. He was a clear, clever, and versatile writer, a ready and resourceful debater, and as an orator had few equals in the movement.

MacCartney was born in Wisconsin, educated in Iowa, and received his theological training at Andover. It is fortunate that in his youth he came under the influence of George D. Herron, who then held the chair of Applied Christianity at Iowa College. The bright, honest, warm-hearted youth was soon impregnated with the new social philosophy and progressive spirit which at that time permeated the institution.

With such qualities of head and heart and such environment and training it is not strange that soon after he entered the ministry he concluded that creeds were cold and pulpits narrow. The more he thought about it the less theology satisfied the hunger of his soul. He sorrowed with the poor and wept with the oppressed and heavy laden. Something was surely wrong that this fair earth should be so scarred with misery. He investigated social conditions and studied economic science, gradually the darkness in which he groped was dispelled. The scales fell from his eyes and his vision was now clear. A new sun had risen for him. Henceforth his duty was plain and he would apply himself to his task with all the strength he could summon to his command.

Too honest to profess what he was not, he made without fear the full avowal of his convictions and as a sequence cleared the pulpit that was too narrow and dogmatic to hold him.

From the beginning he became a factor in the movement. He was filled to the brim with the spirit of international socialism. He felt himself aroused as if by Jehovah’s own command. He burned with the social passion for freedom, equality, and brother-love, and from his own intensity scattered the sacred fire among his fellow men.

At Rockland, his home, MacCartney was the idol of the working class; they loved and laureled him as their own hero, and even those opposed to him were moved to pay to him the tribute of respect.

The legislative labors of our comrade need no notice here, the General Assembly of Massachusetts will be poorer far without him and the people may well feel that they have lost a friend. With his two Socialist colleagues, MacCartney was a tower of strength in the legislative halls of the old Bay State. From the day they entered a new and distinctive power has been felt-a power with portent for the reign of capitalist corruption-the beginning of the end.

What pity, what pathos that such a brilliant career should be snuffed out at its very sunrise!

Ah, nature is forever the same-neither merciful nor vindictive-always inexorable.

Our dear comrade’s zeal exceeded his discretion. He had no thought that powers of endurance have limitations. Early and late, in legislative debate and committee room, on the rostrum, the street corner, anywhere, everywhere, all the time at work, pleading protesting, appealing, with tongue and pen in the name of oppressed and suffering humanity, his drafts upon nature were too deep and frequent and the inevitable protest followed, the protest sealed by death.

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