Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-03-04
WHITE SLAVERY.
The Story Told by Seven Bohe.
m an laborers.
DARK DOINGS IN LIBERTYs HOME

A Screw Loose in West Virginia, il Some
body Is Not Lying-Proceedings That
Discount the system in Sibe ria-The
whip and Chain Used on the Laborers
on a Railway-Labor Leaders in Penn
sylrania Arrested for Alleged Conspir-
acy-Strike at Pullman.
NEW YORK, March 4-Seven Bohe-
mians, who were sent from an employ
ment agency in Greenwich street to labor
on the railroad near the Pocahontas coal
mines in West Virginia, have written a
letter to a Bohemian newspaper in this
city that is a chapter from the BLACKLIST
records of slavery. They arrived with i'm
migrants OF several other nationalities at
Ekhorn, W. Va, in the latter part of No
vember under the impression that they
were to receive 81. 20 day and an allow
ance of 50 month for board They
signed a paper which was not read to
them, but which bound them, they after
ward found out, to servitude
Guarded Like Convicts
"We were put on a train at Norfolk
after our arrival from New York." the
After leaving the train we were told that
we would have to travel one day on foot,
and that we would have To leave our
trunks behind. Instead of travelling one
day we Travelled three The cold was e.
we're, and most of our own shoes gave out,
so that we were almost barefooted At
Pocahontas we were joined by two young
men, who rode on mules and were heavily
armed. The agent carried pisto in his
hand What happened to us after we
reached our destination is sodread lul that
it may seem incredible to you. We are
helpless here, as we are watched and
guarded like prisoners. We did not get
our trunks until month after we got
here, and our bodies were covered with
vermin.
Must Work, Ill or Well
"The food is always the same hitter
black coffee aud bacon three times n dav
Whether man is i'll or not makes no diff.
ference TO our masters. He must go to
work, and when not able to work he is
logged until ne is black and blue and told
that he has signed the contract and must
abide by 1t. We have received no money
and when we ask for it we are told that
we owe SO for railroad fare and Sl1 fer
board. AT the store we are charged doul le
for what we got, so that some of rs have
debts amounting to SS5 Our labor is in
vain, hard as it is; we are hungry, and
our nights are sleepless because of the
cold and the lirt
The Barbarous Punishment
I'VE eat breakfast at in the morning
and go imml iiately to our work. which
lasts far into the night. Two men tried
to escape on Jan. IS One was Russian
Jew and tt other a Pole. They wera
caught and brought lack. For punish
ment they were compelled to wade in
water up to their waists and draw large
boats after them After this their coats
were taken off and they were whipped I'M
til they begged on their knees for mercy
AT night they were chained together so
they could not escape. When we asked
about our trunks and received an unsatis-
factory answer we refused to work We
were confronted with pistol sand told that
we would be shot down like dogs unless
We resumed work.
Well. There Ought To Be Help.
I'VE have been sold like slaves Is there
no help? Oh, five could flee from here
and save others from a similar fate. Per
haps this letter may be published, and
through providence we may yet be saved"
The letter Is ~igned by William Hoffman,
Joseph LANCER, L. LANCER J. P. Maye.,
Mike Hranyo. J. Mrsz. J. Gerry The ad
dress is given as Elkhorn, Mcdowell
county, W. Va care of J. Bowel, Pur-
cells Camp, No. 3