The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-10-27
So PER YEAR IN ADVANCE,

way. there has scarcely been a labor
trouble, in the history Of the road not
one. large proportion of the min
ers employed underground are the off
Iscourings OF the earth, men who have
no Family ties, no education, no scru-
pies and no regard for law or contracts.
They are Austrians, Firms, Hungari-
ons, Poles and the like. The positions
OF responsibility are held by Cornish
men, men who have been born and
bred in mines. and are worthy and fit,
capable of high efficiency and with a
full sense of their duties and response
bilities. They are all well fixed.
Most of the employees Of the Dull
nth & Iron Range road have their
own homes and deposits in the banks.
1t is said that there is a larger pro-
portion Of the men employed by that
road with comfortable sums of money
ahead and with their homes free from
debt than in any other like commu-
nifty in the West. That this is not
the case with the Duluth, Missabe &
Northern road is due to the fact that
that line is younger. Both roads pay
the highest wages, have their systems
of civil service and are operated in the
most humane and kindly manner con-
sistent with economical service. Both
have established reading rooms, etc.,
have erected Y. NJ. G. A. rooms and
stocked them fully, have hospitals
and insurance systems for their men,
and both are run by officials who have
the hearty affection of their employees.
The same is true of the various
mines: there are the finest equipped
! hospitals in Minnesota at the mining
towns of Ely, Fayal and Hibbing:
there are plans of insurance and meth
DDS Of keeping the men in times when
work is slack and ore is unsaleable
that compare favOrably with any
similar methods in the most advanced
communities anywhere. Mining is Il
hazardous occupation, but such are
the precautions taken in this state
that at one of the largest underground
mines Of the region (Chandler) where
500 to 600 men were at work day and
night all last year, only one was
killed. The companies all pay the
best wages. and they have this year
made rate of wages that permits
competent men to earn from So to 81
a Gay. Common unskiled labor earns
81 a day, and this not for the summer
months nor for pleasant weather, but
day after day, rain or shine. summer
and winter. There are no variations
in temperature underground, the VEN
tilation is as perfect at most mines as
in the best office buildings: electric
railways and mule trains, electric
lights and safety skips and man ways
ali add to the safety of the employees.
Of course, all this is not done from
the humanitarian aspect Of the case
alone--it pays; nevertheless, the cred
it must be given those responsible for
the advanced and excellent methods
in use at these mines and railways
advanced upon those practiced at
almost any other like situations on
the continent"
The above relating to ''the large
proportion of the miuers employed
underground. are the offscourings of
the earth, men who have no family
ties, no education, no scruples and no
regard for law or contracts. ETC." is
decidedly wrong and base calumny
Our citizens are as law abiding as any
in the country. Certainly. there is
occasionally murder committed in
Idrunken brawl, which is heralded far
and wide by the press. The large
number of good deeds are never men
toned. Show us a community in the
state where there are as many men
employed as here, where there is less
ranges. 1.-The offscourings of the
EARTH never come to a place where
there is work to do. We do not be-
lieve there is man employed in the
mines at Ely that can not read and
write in some kind of a language. 1t
can plainly be seen that the party
who penned the Dispatch article has
never visited Ely.
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