The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-03-17
N. 7 sun,
Pennsylvania Coal Miners.

4
of which this city is the centre, made
last year nearly one hundred widows
and over five hundred orphans. Re-
ports for the first two months of 1888
show an equal average of fatalities.
But Notwithstanding the frequency
of fatal accidents and the absence of
any organized charity, the larders of
the widowed families are never empty
none go naked, the household fires
are not extinguished, and the little
home is never stripped by a land
lords warrant. Kind hands see that
food is provided each day, and the
men returning home from their work
in the mines do not forget to carry
to the widows home lump of all
thracite for the next days use. Com
munism in a peculiar sense prevails
among the coal miners of PennsyIva-
mia. The lucky divide with the I'M
lucky as readily and as cheerfully as
if they belonged to one family. How
ever much all may quarrel on alb
SPECIFICATIONS of politics or religion,
l2N ~ R5;a sions are dropped at the APP
J Ses1 CssIharity. l--..-
While. as has been said no organ
lied relief societies exist among the
golfers, there is general system in
vogue which does its work well and
promptly. Every printing Office in
this region is visited weekly by per-
sons wanting rattle tickets These
tickets cost one dollar a hundred, and
are headed, "Raffie for a Cooking
stove" or clock, bureau, quilt, table,
or some other article of domestic use.
1t is announced that the rattle is for
the benifit of widow or an injured
miner, and will be held at a place
designated. on the might after pay.
day." The price of these tickets is
generally fifty cents. The rattle is in
charge of a committee whose names
appear on the ticket. Take the case
of a woman, for instance lately made
a widow. She has been left penni-
less, as miners widows usually are.
Everybody understand this, and the
hundred tickets are promptly dispos-
ed of among the miners, who pay for
them on pay day. On that day the
widow gets $50 cash. The night of
the rattle comes, and possibly one
fifth Of the ticket holders assemble.
A fiddle, keg of beer, and little
of "hard STUFF forms the elements of
the entertainment. The young lads
join in dance with the lasses. the
old men sup and smoke their pipes,
and the old women recount the vir-
tues of the deceased miner. About
midnight the rattle begins. The
names of the ticket purchasers are
put into hat and well shaken. Who
ever secures the prize at once turns it
over to the beneficiary. The COM
pany breaks up happy over the good
time they have had. and kind deed
they have done. That $50 goes long
way in keeping the shadows from the
little house. 1t will sometimes pay
whole years rent, and it only re-
quires one or two more raffles to
keep the yictor's poor larder stocked
for it must be understood that the
potatoes, cabbages, and meal form
the staple articles of diet in these
humble homes.
A year is long time for comely
and thrifty woman to remain widow
at the mines, no matter how many
children she may have. Jim is killed
to-day, and possibly before the sum-
mer ends. Jack. who was Jim's best
friend, insist upon marrying Jim's
widow. Jim's babies become his. And
you go below the surface you will
find the foundation of Jacks action
to be pure charity. 1t is a matter of
record that when the terribly Avon
dale disaster occurred so many Wild
0ws and helpless ones were left that
the matter. of caring for the former
speedily was discussed. 1t was quick
ly settled by propositions of marriage,
and within q very short time after.
the calamity the household of every
victim was protected. This same
spirit exists in every mining commu-
nifty to-day, and is a shield against
much distress. Attempts have been
made from time to time to organize
mutual benefit associations among the
miners, but invariably the schemes
have come to grief, usually through
the cupidity of the managers. The
miners unions have been formed to
relieve distressed miners, and the
widows and orphans of miners, have
all been wrecked in the shoals of
politics. An association of the kind
was organized by Charles Parish, at
the time President of the Lehigh and
Wilkesbarre Coal Company and a
large owner OF the collieries. 1t was
in the flush times of several years