Tag: September 1900

Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for September 1900, Part II: Found in Pennsylvania Supporting Great Anthracite Strike

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Not Afraid in PA, SF Exmr p2, Sept 22, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday October 13, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1900, Part II
Found in Pennsylvania Supporting Great Anthracite Strike

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 21, 1900:

POLISH WOMEN ATTACK POLICE

—————



From a Staff Correspondent.

Mother Jones, at Her Lecture Stand, Detail, Phl Iq p1, Sept 24, 1900

HAZLETON, Pa., Sept. 20.-Outside of a little flurry this morning at Shaft 40, the property of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, between a half dozen coal and iron police and a crowd of two hundred Hungarians and Polish women, the most startling thing up to noon was the arrival in Hazleton of Wharton Barker, Jr., and Mother Mary Jones. The former came up for a day’s trip only, to study the situation from the standpoint of a student, of social economics and in its political bearing; the latter will remain over until Saturday to rest up after her speech-making of the last week or so, which has worn down her voice to a whisper.

The trouble at Shaft 40, was directly due to the over officiousness of the coal and iron police in going from house to house to collect boys to work in the breakers. They had gathered in about fifty, and were returning to the shaft by way of East Diamond avenue, when a couple of hundred Hungarian women made a dash to rescue the lads. They were repulsed but made another sortie. There was some torn clothing, but nothing worse. The women got the better end of the conflict, as the discomfited officers were not able to corral more than a dozen of the lads, for duty at the colliery.

[Photograph added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for September 1900, Part I: Found in Pennsylvania Working with Mine Workers’ Union

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, If war Shamokin Sep 8, Phl Iq p2, Sept 9, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday October 12, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1900, Part I
Found Working with Pennsylvania Miners Ready to Strike

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 5, 1900:

Mother Jones n Father Phillips w Miners in PA, Phl Iq p4, Sept 5, 1900

A WOMAN’S WILL SWAYS THOUSANDS
——-
“Mother” Mary Jones, of Chicago, Now Working
Hand in Hand With Mine Workers’ Union,
at Wilkes-Barre
——-

Mother Jones Speaks to Miners in PA, Phl Iq p4, Sept 5, 1900

Special to The Inquirer.

WILKES-BARRE, Sept. 4.-The United Mine Workers’ Union here seems to be dominated by “Mother” Mary Jones, of Chicago, and she has full sway in dictating the policy of the union in the labor situation here.

She has not only every member of the United Mine Workers’ Union ready to strike, but her eloquent presentation of the wrongs suffered at the hands of the operator has made many new members, while an equal number are ready to follow the union men out without formally joining the organization.

Mrs. Jones has been working among the soft coal miners of the Meyersdale (Md.) and Central Pennsylvania districts since helping those in Tioga county to win their strike last winter.

Fifty-six years of age, she is bright and active. Her white hair commands respect, while her cheery face and manner hearten up the most morose assemblage.

[She said:]

The condition of the miner is most deplorable. He is the butt of a system of robbery. Of course, there are some good operators-men who would correct the grievances if they dared, but who are governed by others. In New Zealand the operators urge the men to organize, but in this country they shoot them down or get out an injunction and throw them into jail.

In this crisis if the operators don’t make concessions I believe that a strike is inevitable. The law says 2240 pounds make a ton. The operator expects 3300 from the miner. The miners are publicly robbed.

The company doctor is an imposition and ought to be driven out. The company store should not be tolerated. I don’t believe the men want to strike, but if it is their only alternative, I say strike.

I do not approve of strikes, but at times they are necessary and if the operators do not grant the just and equitable demands of the men there is but one thing for them to do-strike, and continue to strike until they gain fair treatment.

—————

[Drawing detail added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Organizing Mothers, Wives, Sisters and Daughters of Coal Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Strikes Won by Women, Speech Dec 9, NY Cl p2, Dec 10, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday September 29, 1900
Hazleton District, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Organizing Women in Strike Zone

From the Philadelphia Times of September 24, 1900:

UNION OF THE WOMEN NOW TO BE FORMED
——-
Mother Jones Tells the Plans to Organize the Wives and
Daughters of Coal Miners Into an Auxiliary Association.
——-

(Written for The Times by “Mother” Mary Jone, the famous woman Labor Leader.)

Mother Jones, at Her Lecture Stand, Detail, Phl Iq p1, Sept 24, 1900

As I have remarked In THE TIMES before, the greatest force in this strike, besides the men themselves, is the women of the coal regions, and we now are going to organize this force so that it can be used to greater advantages. National Organizers Mederiel, Dilcher and myself have already gone to work in the matter, and women’s auxiliaries have been organized in McAdoo and elsewhere. This work will be continued until every mother, wife, sister and daughter of the miners are part of the union.

The encouragement thus given to the men will hold them together in such solidity that no one can break the ranks. The position taken by the women in this strike has aroused the union working women in all parts of the country, and, owing to this, offers of help are pouring in from unions in every State. This shows that the united labor of the country is behind the 132,000 men who are on strike, and how hopeless is the struggle of the operators to defeat our organizations.

(Signed) Mary Jones.

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: “Mother Jones at Her Lecture Stand” -Photograph from the Philadelphia Inquirer

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Not Afraid in PA, SF Exmr p2, Sept 22, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday September 28, 1900
Hazleton District, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones in Midst of Great Anthracite Strike

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 24, 1900:

Mother Jones, at Her Lecture Stand, Phl Iq p1, Sept 24, 1900

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Leads Army of Strikers’ Wives and Daughters to Coleraine and Beaver Meadows

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Ladies Women, NYT p3, May 23, 1914———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 27, 1900
Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Leads Army of Women from McAdoo to Coleraine

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 23, 1900:

PA Strike, HdLn Women Take a Hand, Phl Iq p6, Sept 23, 1900

PA Strike, Women in Demonstration Hazleton Mine, Phl Iq p6, Sept 23, 1900
Sketched on the Spot by an Inquirer Staff Artist.
—————

WOMEN FIRED TO FRENZY MARCH ON MINES AND HUGGING
THE WORKERS THEY FORCE THEM TO LEAVE THEIR POST
——-
Females Led by Mother Jones Form a Strange and
Remarkable Procession-Shouting and Waving
Their Arms They Dance to Martial Music

From a Staff Correspondent.

HAZLETON, PA., Sept. 22-Unless there is a speedy close down of the mines whose operators persist in keeping them running with armed protection, there s going to be trouble in this district. When it comes, the women will be at the bottom of it. In the early hours this morning they swooped down upon Coleraine and Beaver Meadows. They were led by Mother Jones. They marched with a band at their head, the men falling back in the rear. In the journey some of the party were girls, who gave way to the wildest abandon and danced and shouted, waving their arms in the air.

On arriving at Coleraine, emotional frenzy reached its limit. The men who on their way to work were seized, When cold argument failed some of the women threw their arms about the miners’ necks and exercised all their powers of pleading. Unable to resist the demonstrative actions of the women, the miners gave in, and consented to return to their homes.

Flushed with victory, the raiding party proceeded on to Beaver Meadow. There were about a hundred women in it, and male recruits had been picked up all along the road, so that the entire aggregation numbered five or six hundred. They reached Beaver Meadow too late for any demonstration with the miners, as they were in the colliery at work.

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones in Pennsylvania: Great Strike Was Forced on Miners by Conditions of Actual Starvation

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, If war Shamokin Sep 8, Phl Iq p2, Sept 9, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday September 21, 1900
Mother Jones in Pennsylvania: Great Strike Forced by Starvation Conditions

From the Philadelphia Times of September 17, 1900:

NO “FULL DINNER PAIL” FOR ANTHRACITE MINERS
——-
Mother Jones Says the Great Strike Was Forced on
the Workmen by Actual Starvation and Suffering.
——-

Written for The Times by “MOTHER” MARY JONES,
the Woman Labor Leader

CARBONDALE, September 16.

Mother Jones, Kenosha Ns WI p7, June 26, 1900

Questions have been asked by hundreds, who are not familiar with the matter, why the miners have struck. After visiting nearly every mine in the anthracite region I think I am enabled to write intelligently on the subject, and I can say truthfully that they were forced to act by starvation.

For years the wages of the men have been falling lower and lower, while the combinations of capital have been forcing the prices of the necessities of life upwards, until, taking these two facts jointly, the mine worker to-day does not get more than one-half of what he did a few years ago for his labor. In fact, the trusts and combinations have made the conditions such that the miner had to strike or starve.

In every town I have visited I found that it is with only an economy so rigid that it is unknown outside of the coal fields, that the majority of the families manage to exist at all. The “full dinner pail” is something that is unknown in this region. The term “full dinner pail” suggests plenty of meat and bread and vegetables. It suggests thorough and robust living, but as are many other things related of the mine workers, the assertion that they have such food is miserably false. The “full dinner pail” means that, though the tin may shine throughout the furnishing of a tidy house wife, inside, instead of roast beef and vegetables and other things, there are usually a couple of slices of dry bread and a small piece of ham or pork. The whole would make a poor sandwich. The wife has to strive hard to make even this meagre fare last through the month. With flour fifteen per cent. higher than four years ago, beef ten per cent. higher, sugar two and three cents a pound more, pork ten per cent. higher, and all other food as costly, and with average wages down to less than one dollar a day for the year around, the readers of The Times have the real cause of the strike.

MARY JONES

—————

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones in Pennsylvania: Women Ready for Strike; Wives and Daughters Stand with Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, If war Shamokin Sep 8, Phl Iq p2, Sept 9, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 20, 1900
Mother Jones in Pennsylvania: Women Stand Ready for the Strike

From the Philadelphia Times of September 15, 1900:

WOMEN IN FAVOR OF THE STRIKE
—————
Wives, Daughters and Sweethearts of Miners
Are as Much in Earnest as the Men.
——-

Dictated for The Times by MOTHER MARY JONES,
the Great Woman Labor Leader.
——-

Mahanoy City, September 14.

Mother Jones, Kenosha Ns WI p7, June 26, 1900

Since my departure from Hazleton I have made a point of visiting every coal mining village in the whole coal mining district from Shamokin to Pittston, and I have found that the spirit of the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of the men who are going to quit work on Monday [September 17th]  is Spartan in steadfastness. All who know the effect of strikes are aware that families suffer just the same as do the men themselves, and when the women of the coal fields are willing for a strike to take place one can decide that the struggle will be one that a great money power will have hard work to win.

I have found that the 200,000 women and girls who will be involved in the strike were just as much determined as were the men folks. They advised that the strike take place, a fact that certainly is unusual, and one on which I base my belief that this strike is bound to be a success. As a rule long established, women have been found against anything that might tend to create disturbances between the men and coal operators, but this time they are behind the mine workers, heart and soul, and will stand out to the last. They will put courage into the hearts of the weaklings and will sustain the determination of the more dogged.

The support of a wife or mother is a great factor in any contest. When women of the household have reproach in their eyes, when they continually din into the ears of the men on strike that they had no right to quit work, it is safe to say that the strike will not last long.

Another thing that I have seen is that the women have been quietly preparing for the strike as well as the men. The flour barrel in every little home is filled, and in the more prosperous households an extra barrel has been laid away. Provision chests and closets are well stored. Winter clothing is ready. Stout feminine hearts have prepared as well as they have been able.

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks in Locust Gap, Pennsylvania, as Miners Prepare for Great Anthracite Strike

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, If war Shamokin Sep 8, Phl Iq p2, Sept 9, 1900———–

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday September 19, 1900
Locust Gap, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Speaks to Determined Miners

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 14, 1900:

MINERS WAITING AND HOPING
——-
In the Shamokin Region They Do Not Want to Strike
——-

Mother Jones Speaks to Miners in PA, Phl Iq p4, Sept 5, 1900

From a Staff Correspondent.

SHAMOKIN, Pa., Sept. 13.-“We are waiting now-waiting and hoping that the mine operators will change their minds and hold a conference with the mine workers.”

If John Fahy, president of the Ninth district of the United Mine Workers, had spent hours in thinking it over he could not have put into more epigrammatic form the sentiment of his fellow-officials and the men they represent. The hardest fighter is ever the man who is pushed into a corner and forced to fight against his will. He will fight to a finish. He will fight so long as he can stand. That is the condition of affairs in the anthracite coal region to-day. The men do not want to strike, and no one is more anxious to avoid a strike than President John Mitchell. But the silent determination written in large letters upon the faces of the men as they answer the query: “Will you go out on Monday if no settlement is arrived at?” tells the truth more plainly than any words…..

This evening Mother Jones was one of the speakers at a mass meeting at Locust Gap, about seven miles from here, where it is said the men are not so well organized as in other sections…..

T. L. R.

—————

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Sways Thousands of Pennsylvania Miners, Now Ready to Strike for Their Just Demands

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, If war Shamokin Sep 8, Phl Iq p2, Sept 9, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday September 11, 1900
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Working with Mine Workers Union

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 5, 1900:

Mother Jones n Father Phillips w Miners in PA, Phl Iq p4, Sept 5, 1900

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