River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-06-27
STARVING MINERS.
Thousands of Idle Golfers and Their
Families at Hardwood, Ill, Face to
Face with Famine-Prompt Assistance

Thousands of Idle Golfers and Their
Families at Hardwood, Ill, Face to
Face with Tamine-Prompt Assistance
Necessary.
BRADwooD, Ill, June 22-Tho condition
of Braidwood is one to call forth thu COM
misseration and the immediate practical
help of the people OF the United States. The
normal population of the town is about
5000, all directly dependent upon
the Goa m ming industry for their daily
bre2d. At 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 stagnatiOn are two-the
continued depression in the coal in
dustry here and the eliminating strike
or lockout which has placed 1900 bread
winners beyond the possibility Of utilizing
their labor, and these two combined have
reduced a whole community to something
more than Indulgence 1t is not possible to
OVerstate the condition of the people
of this city aud neighborhood Two
months ago the 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 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 the people had by no means been
cycrdrawn 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
express-wagon men, who are busily 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 men, 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 BUSH
ness buildings, are being moved away to
Coal City and other points. The town lone
of the prettiest in the entire coal district)
seems as if stricken with a blight
Three weeks ago committee, consisting
of two representatives of each nationality,
was appointed to take care of the distressed
This committee has had its hands
more than full ever since its appoint
ment The population of Braidwood is
a heterogeneous one, comprising persons
of all nationalities OF the ,242 heads of
fam lilies employed in the mines there are
some 800 English, Scotch Irish and Ameri-
cans, the last-named being few in proper
ton There are about 100 colored men, 800
Italians, $50 Bohemians and Poles As is the
case in most industrial communities the
families are large OF thirty applicants for
aid Friday the average number ia the
family was six The single men have
pulled up stakes and quit, and the town is
face TO face with an economic problem far
beyond its power to grapple with.
In one house there was a family of ten
absolutely without food f any kind This
was the home of a Sc lehman, steady
Woodworking man. There wa, not in the
little cottage a scrap of stuff upon which a
dollar could be realized
At another home Gf the name be not a
satire was found a German woman with
seven children Her husband left two
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 We're crying with
hunger.
The saddest episode was witnessed at a
cottage near the Eureka mines There
resides an Englishman named Case
who has three children, and
wife who is diving of con-
sumption. Possibly before this is printed
she may be dead, but in any event
her decease is but a question of days or
hours. The husband is a steady, hard-work-
ing man. and a frst-class miner He said
th,.t his average earnings from January to
May had not been more than Sl7 per month
He bought his little home for $50, on pay
ments of five dollars per month"; and he
still owes SOS on this account Besides that
he owes Sl4 for medicIr G, and he has not a
bite of food in the house.
The measures for the relief of these dis
tressed peopN which have been taken upto
date are miscrably in1dequ ate. Local trades
men have sent in -four and few groceries
Some money has been obtained from joliet
and $500 from trades organizations IN Chi
cago. Friday forty sacks of Hour 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 OF ten hungry children
counts for little.
There is a pressing and immediate neces-
sity Tor relief for these poor people. Not
less than 8. 600 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
wide field for the display of timely bcnev-
olence is opened Clothing and especial
" boots and shoes, are needed, particularly
for the children, but above all the call is
for the necessary food 10 sustain life IL is
the cry of the children that is going up to-
day-the cry of the innocent sufferers
which can not be ignored