The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1891-12-30
In Coal Fields.

A mob of women, half crazed from
hunger and want, made furious attack
on the "blackleg" train when 1t stopped
at syndicate mine No. the other morn
ing, says Brazil lind. correspondent
With curses and screams of rage they
pelted the train with stones, and when
1t came to q standstill they made rush
for the cars in which the "blacklegs"
were, declaring that not one of them
should escape alive. Fortunately for
the men, they were well armed and soon
drove their savage assailants back.
Several OF the miners were severely
bruised with blows from the clubs the
women carried, though none were seri-
ously in. ured. There were several
hand to-hand conflicts, but the women
were weak from waut of food and were
easily overpowered The fight was
over in less than ten minutes, but for
nearly an hour the women loitered
around the mine, screaming like band
of Indians at ghost dance and swear
ing vengeance against the "blacklegs."
Having vented their spleen, they
joined their husbands, who had been
highly interested spectators on the top
of high bluff overlooking the mine, and
then returned to Caseyville.
1t was a complete surprise to the
operators They had recei cd no init
nation Of the trouble, and for the first
time since the mine resumed operation
General Manager McClelland did not go
out with the Il ain. The women were
concealed behind long row Of coal
ears, and did not show themselves until
the train was within few rods
OF the stopping place, when they
made rush from their ambush, show
ering stones on the train as they
came Robert Wallace, tho mine super
intendent, and August Narkais, the pit
boss, attempted to intercept them, but
they might as well have attempted to
stop torrent. Mrs. Thomas Short car
ried a pickhandle, and with the fury OF
a bear robbed Of her WI eli S she made at
Narkas. He lodged the blow and
quick as flash sci ed her about the
waist and attempt to wrest the club
from her gra p. He was not equal to
the task With the strength given by
rage and desperation she threw him of
and second time rushed upon him,
screaming with al her might that she
would kill him Again he lodged the
blow, and this time he eized her by the
throat and threw her acK several
PAGES In her effort to keep from fall
got it,
Mrs. Sandy Jenkins, Mr. FaIkner
and Mrs McDona d, who, in their efforts
to reach the "blacklcgs," had not before
noticed the fight between Mrs. Short
and the pit boss, now came TO the res
cue, a! d he fled, with tie women in hot
pursuit. Superintendent Wallace tried
to stop them, when he became involved
in hand-to-hand conflict with Mrs.
Jenkins. The other women set upon
him with such fury that he had to give
it up. BY this time the "backlegs" had
left the train. and by pointing their
weapons at the women kept them at o
safe distance.
AS soon as the women left the mine
the train was sent back to Brazil, and in
the afternoon it returned with squad
of police 1icers and General Manager
McCelland. Word was then sent to Ca
SEVILLE that if the women came to the
mine in the evening they would be ar
rested and taken to jail. 1t had the de-
sired effect, and none of them appeared
when the train pulled out.
The women and men of CaSeyviile
perssttthat they are not in want, but
they condemn the State and national
officers in bitter terms for not sending
the aid that was promised when the
strike was declared. When talking at
home they are frank in expressing them
selves as wishing TO go back TO work
without being ostracized as "blacklegs"
when the trouble is over.
Syndicate Mine No. is the only
place in the Brazil coal-ields where the
"blacklegs" havs been molested. At
other mines three times as many "b ack-
legs" are at work, and none OF them
have been molested. In the communities
away from Perth and Caseyville the
strikers agree that man is justified in
"blacklegging" to prevent his family
from starving
The State officers of the United Mine
Workers OF America deny that the men
are returning to work at the different
parts of the districts. In spite Of this
assertion the number Of "blacklegs" is
daily increasing. Not around Perth and
Caseyville, TO be sure, but in the mines
around Brazil and south it is so.