Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-11-22
is FOOD OR DEATH
Miners and Their families IN the
Gcgeb.c Range
ON The VERGE OF STARVATION
Basines- Il Parasys~d and 4 600 Chti-
drea Are Wnhoat Cisshin<- Relief
Trains 90 Re sent Out

DETsosF. Mich. Nov IA spseial to
The News from ifcnw,oi says The
shutting down % the Goxeble rEat,s has
throxa 400 sble-bosiied Finns crnish.
men. Austrisns. Italians. Poles and
lrishmsn out Il work. Twent, thoa
sand persons are wondering hog they
are going "a get food tomorrow.
Seven years ago. when Grover Cleys-
land WAS president. the hog t'scx Of
uorthern Wisconsin and northern Mich
igan was Susoling ossg with life. The
operators paid good wages. as sagas 20
in an lrcs country. Tue miners epeat
their noasy as Esinars 90. fifst for fooo
and then Tor whirl al the wheel or a
turn & card at faro. Ii was not until
eaFly this sprlng that operators loitered
around their offices ard allowed that il
would he tettsr to reel their cables and
tell their employees that they needn't
hight them lamps for bile. First one
mine shut down and smother drew its
fires. end left thousands Of toas OF ore
standing in cones beneath its troheys
tho great Norrie sent 1880 men TO their
hoTacs
All the Mines Closet.
1t WAS three mouths before all the
raines Of the Gogebac range were en-
tirely Idle. From iIon.ooa 10 Ashland,
the marrow 81 the Gogebie range. busi-
ness houses closed. dance houses drew
their shades. aud the men wko had
squatted on the corners pocketed their
dice and cards and scattered 10 the east
and west so thoroughly convinced
were the miners that food and fun were
10 be perpetual payment Tor their
work that they squandsred the few dol
lars they had from week 10 week. They
never thought they would come % want.
Thus the miners lived a happy go-lucky
life When the Pahst mine shut down
this year merchants In the streets Of
ITonwood scowied at toe men who
worked in that pit Then the Corey
mine in Hurley closed. People said
that the rest OF the mines would not
shut down. hut they did. The great
Norrie mine discharged its men. Then
the Father Hennepin. in the Hurley dis
tric., shut down.
Children without Food.
II is no exaggeration TO state that
1000 children on the Gogebic range are
today without food. clothing and shoes
For years and years hundreds Of men
have been chopping wood IN the black
forests to the north and the south for
tho big furnaces at Hurley. Ironwood.
Bessemer. Saxon snd Ashland. When
the mines were shut down these wood
men were ordered 70 stop work. 90 thus
so or more men were forced 10 return
To their homesL
Ii has been six months since the bow
els OF the Gogebic range were whacked
10y the picks OK the men, who now
stand round in the snow and biting
winds and wonder whether it's to
be beets or potatoes that the good
wife Is 10 cook AT noon. The little
children running about the bare floors
cannot answer the question. for the cold
wind from the broken windows drives
them into corners and makes them talk
about the stockings they should be
wearing and the sLves that father can
not buy. Governor Peck viii at once
establish food stations for relief trains
from Milwaukee, and Governor Rich Of
Michigan will be asked Ia join IN the
helping o; the starving. The first loads
OF beef and potatoes viii leave for the
usifhfr frrc fnra