Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-06-26
STARVING MINERS.

Thousands of Idle Golfers and Their
Families at Braiawood, ILL.,, Face to
race with Famine-Prompt Assistance
| necessary.
| BRA1DWooD, ILL.,, June 22-The condition
OF braldwood is one to call forth the COM
misscration and the immediate practical
help or the people of the United States The
normal population OF the town is about
5000, all directly dependent upon
the Goa IN ming industry for their daily
! bread. al this time not one ounce Of coal
is being mined, and the inhabitants are at
the point OF starvation Men, women and
! children alike share In the BLIGHT
which has overcast this section. The
causes OF the stagnntion are two-tho
continued depression in the coal in
dustry here and the eliminating stri],e
or lockout which has placed $50 bread.
winners beyond the possibility Of utilizing
their labor, and these two combined have
reduced whole community to something
more than Indulgence. 1T is not possible to
overstate tho condition Of the people
OF this city aud neighborhood. Two
months ago tho miners OF Braidwood
went on strike, the occasion being pro.
! posed reduction in the price paid for get
ting coal. They had made little prepara
ton for a prolonged siege, and they are to-
| day starving. The actual facts as to the
condition OF these men and their families
| have been investigated
An extended trip through the city and
| suburbs showed that the stories as to the
! needs OF tho people had by no means been
| OvcrdraWn. The downtown stores are de-
| serted and many are vacant On every cor
; ner can be seen empty houses and the only
thriving industry In the place is that of the
| eNpress-wayOn men, who are busilv en-
gagged in conveying to the depot the bag
| gage Of those OF the younger men who
| have enough left to get away. The
married mon, especially those who
have acquired homes here, are rooted
! to the soil They must stay and starve.
During the spring they made little
money and what little they did make has
| been used for immediate necessities Scores
of the houses, and particularly the bust
| ':Ss buildings, are being moved away to
al City and other points The town zone
the prcttiest in the entire coal district)
seems us ii stricken with blight
Three weeks ago a committee, consisting
of two representatives of each nationality,
was appointed to take care of the distressed.
This committee has had its hands
! moro than full ever since it's appoint
ment The population Of Brentwood is
| heterogeneous one, comprising persons
or all natlOnaltics. Oh the PAP heads OF
lam allies employed in the mines there are
some 800 English, Scotch, Irish and Amcri-
cans, the last-namcd being few in proper
ton. There are about 100 coloreu men so
Italians, $50 Eoto,nians and Poles AS is the
; case in most industrial communities the
families are large. OF thirty applicants tor
! aid Friday the average number in the
family was six. The single men have
pulled up stakes and quit, and the town is
face to face with an economic problem ful.
beyond its power to graphic with.
In one house there was Il fan.Gy Of ten
absolutely without food OF any kind This
was tho home OF y ScotclEnan, Il steady,
, Woodworking man. There wa, not in the
little cottage scrap OF stuff upon which .
dollar could be realized
at another home Gf the name be not q
satire, was found Il German woman with
weeks ago to find work and she has not
heard from him since. She had not a NOR
sci OF food OF any kind in the house and the
barefooted children were crying with
hunger.
The saddcst episode was witnessed at a
cottage near the Eureka mines There
resides an Eng!ishMan named Case
who has three children and q
wife who is dying of con-
sumption. Possibly before this is printed
she may be dead, but in any event
her deceasc is but a question OF DAYS or
hours. The husband is steady, l.lrd->york-
ing man, and a tirst-class miner He said
that his average earnings from January to
May had not been more than SIT per month
He bought his little j. for $50 on paw
<l>1,
still owes sos on this account Besides that
he owes sl+ for medicine and he has not q
bite OF food in the house.
The measures for the relief of these dis
tressed people which have been taken upto
date are miserably inadequate. Local trades
men have sent in flour and few groceries,
Some money has been obtained from 10 let
and $500 from trades organizations IN Chi
cage. Friday forty sacks of flour arrived
and this was distributed in lots of twelve
pounds each to those who could live no
longer without it. But twelve pounds of
flour for a family Ut ten hungry children
counts for little.
There is pressing and immediate neces-
sity tor relief for these poor people, Not
less than 5000 women and children are in
absolute want of food, and relief can not
be too quickly sent them AS to the
causes which have led up to this de-
plOrable result it is unnecessary to
say any thing The fact exists that Il
wide field for the display of timely benev-
olence is opened. Clothing, and especial
ly boots and shoes. are needed, particularly
for the children but above all the call is
for the necessary food to sustain life 1t is
the cry OF the children that is going up to-
day-the Cry OF the innocent sufferers
which can not be ignored