The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-05-17

them before. for was practically driven
out of Illinois and Iowa by imported
negroes. You cannot put any faith In
them. They win nsSe promises
and break them without sefuple. We shah
probably have financial aid from the other
mines. Without IL we could not make much OF
fight. We shall also seek assistance from
other unions on the Coast, and may try boy
colt ON coal mined by the negroes But these
are matters to be considered by the Knights OF
Labor assembly, and / cannot speak
with authority. Mr.. Corey seems to want 70
bring Us down to Eastern prices, but the men
VIII not submit readily TO that Rents are
higher and the cost Of living is higher here than
in the East and the only advantage OF the
higher wages is the chance OF saving little
more ] have been working here two years,
and yet it does not look as IL / was
growing rich or living in luxury on what have
made out OF the company" said the man glanc-
ing around his poorly furnished house in vain
search for evidences Of the luxury. "fet i
don't drink, smoke, chew or gamble, and don't
squander money foolishiy. Though we are not
required to deal at the company's store, we are
expected 10, and It has been said IL was re-
marked BY one of the officials, that, IL he had
his way, no men would be employed who did
not deal in the store And yet prices there are
20 TO 30 per cent higher than ct Black Diamond,
and not only are they higher, hat the company
is collecting 81 a month rent from men who have
built houses or land which does not belong to
1T. but TO the Northern Pacific. One of the men
wrote to the land agent OF the Northern Pacific,
asking IL the Oregon Improvement Company had
any right to do so. He replied that the land De-
longed to the railroad which did not propose to
sell 1t, aud he did not raise any objection to
the men squatting on IL. The company has
square thing on getting paid for its goods
because it always stops the store bill
from his wages, and II he has no
money due him the store Is Immediately
closed ON him. There are also deductions for
coal and the doctor, but the doctor gets third
chance They made all they can out OF us
In every way. Corey accuses us Of breaking our
promises TO him. In one instance he said we
promised 70 hold no more meetings
during working hours and broke our prom
ise. What we promised was that we
would try to avoid holding meetings in working
hours as much as possible; but that we could not
promise not 10 hold any. We cannot get meet
ing OF all the men out Of working hours, because
there are two shifts and three in the
gangways II we hold meetings outside
when the night shift is on the night
men cannot attend IL. The only way
we can get all the men together is to meet In the
mine when all the men who are at work can
come out OF their places for short time and go
to the meeting place. We only hold three or
u u
serious interference with the work. The fact is
Corey wants to prevent us from holding meet
ings at all and that Is his way OF getting
around It,"
'Many Of us have stayed on here during this
little time because we were sure of getting work
when the new slope was put in operation. Some
of the men have got few days work here and
there, going away for time and returning to
see il they could catch on, but always making
Franklin their home. We think these men, the
old employees OF the company, ought to have the
preference over new corners.
Gas regards wages, we have not had any trou-
BILE with the company for some years but have
continued to work at the same scale. We have
usually had Is per cent. advance in the fall,
and had 1t taken off again in the spring. We
did not oppose the reduction. The wages for
regular work In breasts are IS cents car OF
thirty hundredweight. In gangways we get
sI.50 yard extra We figure on So day as a
miners wages, but when you count the time the
mine is idle we do not average more than $50
to sl.75 day. Many of the men have been very
hard up through being idle so long, though we
have been helping one another and the other
mines have sent US help.
1.-THE negroes seem to be preferred because
they are more submissive than white men, but
they do not usually make good miners and they
are only little removed from slavery and bar
barism. The public will not approve of bring
a
not succeeded at Roslyn and 1t will not succeed
here"
In the evening the camp was further stirred
up on the arrival OF the evening train. Half the
miners were at the depot and the one subject of
discussion was "the niggers," as they were
called. News came by the train that three car
loads OF bedding had arrived at Newcastle In
readiness for their accommodation, and this
was taken as conclusive evidence that the
report was true. In the morning II was re-
ceived doubtingly and everybody was fishing
for information. There were gatherings in
groups, whispered conversations about the
black cloud which was lowering over the camp.
Every stranger and every new arrival was re-
garded with suspicion as possibly detective.
Two new clerks in the store were placed in the
category, and rumors spread abroad that the
cellar OF the store was filed with Winchester
rifles.
When the news from Newcastle arrived one
man in the group on the platform at the station
exclaimed:
''Well, boys, the niggers are comingl"
Then all fell to making grim jokes at the ex-
pense of the approaching sable enemy The
majority of the men slipped off to a meeting of
the Knights of Labor, which was TO take meas
TO-,