Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-02-21
The Enelish.speaking miners of the Fay

The English-speaking miners of the Fay
ette and Westmoreland county coke regions
are protesting against the employment of
Hungarian peasants in the mines there, and if
what they say of these people in thear open
Letter. to the public is true, they have good
reasons for being dissatisfied The follow
ing is an extract from their circular: 1--WE
now appeal for protection. Our causes are
many. The following are few of them:
Go to any of the coke works where these serfs
are employed and you will find woman and
children at work that Is fit only for the stout
est of men; women at work with their infants
living promiscuously the cold ground
girls under ten years of age fOrking and draw
ing coke; extreme flthiness in their houses and
in their habits; extreme promiscuity in their
marital relations carrying on an illicit. whisky
traffic and hundreds of degrading habits which
space cannot afford to enumerate. Can we as
Christian people stand idly by and tolerate
such wrongs? Every operator who sends these
beings ameng us knows he is doing Us a wrong.
Every boss who gives employment to these
females knows he is violating the laws of
morality, and bringing his people into degra-
dation. If it really takes men, women and
children at hard labor to keep family which
lives on the cheapest and fithIest of fare what
will other American citizens do for living"
Over three hundred persons were killed
ami more than thousand manned in the an
thracite coal mines in this State last year.
After the frightful disaster at the Avondale
mine in 1869, caused by the burning ofa
breaker, the Legislature obliged mine owners
to construct openings through which the
miners could escape in case the main shaft was
obS:ructed. Since then, it IS said, the mines
have been pushed rapidly in every direc-
tion that the openings intended to serve as
means of escape have been left far in the rear
and in many cases have become an additional
source of danger rather than means of safety.
Legislation is called for which will remedy this
state of things. Besides the danger from
burning breakers the miners have to encounter
perils from explosions of gas and gun powder,
the caying in of roofs, and the breaking of
machinery, many of which, it is aveired,
could be prevented by the exercise of proper care
Too much cannot be done TO secure the safety of
these men, whose daily labor is performed in
situations and under circumstances that would
unnerve many man who lives in the free
air on the earth's surface.
Esq, John Smith of Cherry twp, and the
Mahonlng Valley Iron Co. have laid out u
town on the 'Squre's farm, to be called Conner
sol branch railroad has been built from
New Hope to the farm over which cars are al
ready running, and the ca. has opened mine
on the farm from which they have already
taken over two thousand tons of coal. The
Co. expects to ship 800 tons a day from this
mine and the same amount from another open
ing on the r. f. Christie farm. Brown,
Bunnell q Co. are now opening a mine on the
VIM. Christie farm in Clay township, from
which they expect to ship 1000 tons day, by
the same branch r. r. They are building a
town on the Waiter Currie farm to be called
Currie City. 1t will BE- one and one-hIlf miles
from Gomersol. They have cont. acted for the
building of large boarding house and &c
dwelling houses, barns ani blacksmith shop
Twelve houses, barn and blacksmith shop
have already been put up at GDmersol, and 20
new houses are under contract. The compan-
les intend building large store houses at both
points next spring. Both these companies are
of Youngstown, OHIO, iron men, and
will consume the coal themselves. The two
have leased 1900 acres of coal in a
body the veins running from 3 to feet of ex-
cellent mill coal