Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-29
STRIKE THERE.
lex Hill Miners Are Always Con-
~ tent With Their Wages.
THE OWNERS ONCE WORKMEN.
This is the Reason they Can Control Their
Men So Very Well
HOW THE MEXICAN LABORER Is USED

Never in the 25 years of labor history of
the mining regions of the Black Hills has
there been a strike among the miners, drill
ers or workmen in the stamping mills.
This happy order of things, according to
W. j. Coyle, a wealthy mine owner of
Deadwood, S. D., is due to the good wages
paid the men by the mine owners Mr.
Coyle, with his brother, Rev. Father A.
Coyle, of jamestown, n. Y, are stopping
at the Central Hotel, and yesterday gave
some interesting information of the wealthy
community he halls from.
1.-The mine owners of the Black Hills, |"
said Mr.. Coyle, ''are, as a rule, men who
have passed through the stages of tedious
and excessively hard work before they
obtained their wealth, and, as result of
this, can better appreciate the desires of
their employees than can the capitalists who
know little or nothing of hard work. Con-
sequently, they are willing to pay their en-
ployes good wages. Drillers, those who do
the blasting, are paid s. 30 for 10 hours
work, aud miners who clear away and
gather up the debris, are paid
S. per day. This, considering the fact that
provisions, clothing and the other necessi-
ties of lite are almost if not quite as cheap
as they are in the East, is generous wage
and man thus engaged is not obliged TO
labor lifetime to acquire home. The
men are satisfied the employers do not feel
that they are robbing themselves and peace
and good feeling obtain at all times
"What is the class of laborers in the
Black Hills"
The Men Are All Intelligent
"a much better class than one is apt to
part of the globe. As a rule the men are
those who have had past and consequently
are most intelligent and enlightened. 1t is
not intrequently that you meet q man
clothed most roug hly in the hills who, when
work is over, can entertain you most de-
lightfully. By circulating through the
hotels and boarding houses and becoming
intimate with the boarders one may hear
intelligent discourses upon art, music, the
sciences, religions and travel All classes
of men are met with, and, although some
have not touched a razor to their faces for
five, six or seven years, they
liantly. That is one of the great
distinctions of the West; it is impossible
to judge man by his clothes, and it is no
unusual thing to see q professional man,
dressed very nicely, hobnobbing with
grizzled old miner whose clothing would
shame an Eastern pauper. In the Black
Hills one comes nearer finding the practi-
cal illustration of the equality of man than
in any other locality ever visited. Dead
wood is peopled by some 1000 people en-
gagged in mining pursuits and 1000 in the
tlar - nd iafx hrrf
little of a clannish character.
The Mills Make Deadwood City.
'sDeadwood City is merely the center of
the rich country and there is not an ounce of
gold or silver within its precincts in the
natural state. All of the mills are located
there and the quartz and gold-bearing rock
is brought there from the neighboring min
ing camps. Lead City is three miles back
in the mountains Galena is nine miles
away Ruby Basin nine miles and Ball
Mountain three miles. These are the really |
wealthy places and nearly all of the Black |
Hills ore is obtained there. 1t is handled |
and shipped from Deadwood, as that is the
railroad center and all of the business is
transacted there, but Deadwood has not ore
of its own"
mexican laborers never strike. The
reason? They cannot comprehend quickly
enough So said GULL Reiffer, Civil
Engineer of the Mexican Central Railroad
at the Duquesne last evening The gentle
man stopped over in the city while en- route
to his home in Stuttgart, Germany, for
three months visit after a ten years resi-
dence in the land of Maximillian.
'9There is only one way to be successful
with Mexican employees" continued he;
''that is to keep their wages down so low
that they never have anything but the
necessities of life.
Mexican Laborers Never Save Money.
"a peon or laborer as he would be called
here never saves cent of money. He
doesn't know how. 1t he is paid more than
is actually necessary to live on he will i'm
mediately proceed to get drunk and in that
condition he is menace to the peaceful
public and frequently commits very rash
acts. Employers, realizing this, pay wages
that the average American would view with
the utmost contempt. Railroad laborers
are paid so cents day of II 10 IA hours
farm hands get from Is to 25 cents and
miners receive anywhere between 81 and a
81 IS. Out of this they support them
selves and a large family and complaints
are rarely heard.
every other day is feast in Mexico
and unless the men are most closely
watched they will shirk their work con-
The successful employer is he
who treats his men well, keeps them at a
proper distance from him and pays them
small wage. By these methods he is re-
spected and feared and the men will work
as diligently as possible for them. They |
refuse to listen to labor agitators, as they are
satisfied with little coin, few beans and |
intoxicants occasionally and are averse to
spending the time they might sleep in lis |
tening to talk from enthusiasts. Perhaps |
if they really comprehended their lowlv |
station they might organize, but it takes |
thinking to do that and a Mexican objects |
tn thinkinp ahoye all else %