The evening times., 1900-10-20
SIAV WORKERS IN MINES
Peculiar People Delving in Penn
svlvania Coal Fields.
Customs and characteristics of the
Laborers From Poland and Hum
gary-Weddings That Are Pro-
longed for Three Days, or Until
the banquet Table is Depleted.

here and for their treatment of them
About twenty years ago, after the great
strike in the coal regions, the coal busi-
ness was in a bad way, the fight between
i capital and labor had become an affair
| of Kilkenny cats, and the operators lock
| ed abroad for relief from the power OF
| the labor unions. Upon the great sun
! baked plain Of Hungary and amid the Tor
ests OF Poland they found a new race OF
| laborers whom they introduced into the
mines to supplant the Irish, German, and
| Welsh miners. These people are loosely
| classed as Huns and 'Polanders the
classic name Pole is seldom used Ihey
are really Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs.
| Magyars and of other races, who DO not
understand one anothers speech and who
have their roots in the Middle Ages.
When these sun Drowned peasants from
| central Europe first swarmed into the
| Pennsylvania valleys they were driven
| about like sheep or poured from one place
| to another like water. Their names being
unpronouneeable, they were known On the
| payrolls by numbers. Their mail paralyzed
| the postoffices-the clerks could only
| shove out the foreign letters and let each
| man pick out his own. To this day ad-
/ yertised letters fall under three heads,
Men, women, and foreign" They hud-
| died in great barracks or boarding houses
kept by their own people. These were run
| on the cooperative plan, each boarder
| buying his own food, which the boarding
| boss cooked. In the storeToom OF one OF
| these barracks would hang long row OF
| hams. and under each was pile of gro
ceries The boarding boss, when he pre-
| pared meal, would cut a slice from each
| lam and select equal portions from eaeh
| boarder's groceries. Coffee was boiled IN
| wash boilers and stews were made IN huge
! caldrons When a man was killed IN the
| mines the boarding boss refused to receive
good
After a while missionary priests came
| and tried to exert ciriiizing influence
| over them. Churches were built. both or
the Roman and Greek Catholic faiths, On
one Of the hills of Wilkesbarre stands
wooden church with the buIbous dome of
the Russo Byzantine architecture.
But mere potent than the priests as civ
| iIizers are the women. When the Pole or
| Hungarian has saved little money he
sends for his sweetheart. She arrives Her
skirts are of bicycle length and her feet
are encased in cowhide boots. On her head
lis an imported bonnet-she has imported
it herself 1t is a gay silk handkerchief
tied under the chin. is not unbecoming to
her round, good-natuFed face, and she has
no quarrel with the Audubon society. 1t
is TO be regretted that as soon as she be-
comes Americanized she will exchange this
simple and picturesque headgear for cheap
and tasteIess miIliner's anery. AS soon as
she arrives she usually accompanies her
future lord to the marriage license office,
| walking at respectful distance behind
him There has been a great influx OF
these girls of late, and the records OF the
| license court bristie with names made up
of unpronounceable combinations of ks
ks, and rs These are not always the real
| names OF the persons, however They are
often the license clerks 'stagger" at
| them
4 Hungarian wedding lasts three days,
CT as long as the beer holds out. A table
loaded with food, which stands in one OF
the rooms. is replenished from time to
time but never cleared The guests dance
all day and all night, the bride is bound to
dance with all c0mers, and as each man
pays for the honor buxoll bride can earn
a considerable dowry with her feet. These
weddings are both nuisance and men
ace TO the nefghborhood for the customs
they have brought from the mud walls
and hard earth floors of their native land
are repeated here. Hobnailed boots for
: dancing slippers and shirt sleeves for dress
coats ere the rule, and broken floors.
smashed windows, and general demolition
are the ordinary results, while pistol shots
may characterize an affair more frolic-
some than usual
When they first came to America they
bore the marks of having lived under a
strong government. They had never
been allowed to own firearms. and they
| looked upon a man in uniform as a
! superior being. They walked iii the
| middle Of the street because they did not
know that they were allowed TO use the
sidewalk, and they went around an open
| lot instead of going across it. They had
come of a long line of ancestors who
had been conquered and enslayed by
every armed force that crossed their
borders. The very name SIaY is the
parent of the word slave, and the Rus
sian peasant was, not long 60 bought
and sold with the land like the timber
and watercourses.
The Sfav was no sooner settled in
America than three distinct influences
began to work upon him.
| First-That of the coal operator his
employer who proposed to get the
greatest amount of work out of him at
the smallest cost. Under the hard con-
ditions which drove the Irish and Welsh
laborers out of the mines the Slav
thrived he saved his money and sent fer
his friends to follow him over the sea.
Dirty he was and rough, and lived like
a be2st'-but so did the tArgonauts of
49, and the Klondiker and every man
! who ever went to a new country with
nothing to lose and everything to gain.
| The second influence was that CT the
labor unions, which, failing to prevent
his coming, aimed legislative enactments
at him. The Pennsylvania Legislature
! has passed number of mine laws max
ing it Illegal to employ miners who could
not speak English or who could not pass
| examinations On air currents, gases, etc.
and imposing a tax Of cents a day on
aliens 1t is true that man who cannot
speak or understand the English language
and who is ignorant of gases and air cur
rents is a dangerous fellow workman il
SO explosive place as a coal mine. But
all these restrictions operated to educate
the Slav. He learned English, h., learned
mining. he became naturalized The labor
unions having failed to drive nim oct
took another step-they adopted rim
That was the beginning of the Lattirnel
affair and the present strike.
The third influence at work upon hin
was the subtle something that We cal
Americanism. The spirit of freedom be-
gan to ferment within him. and the frs
effect was a species of intoxieation. As
he saw no armed soldiers or uniformed
police he thought there were no restric.
tions upon society-he mistook freedom
for license. He organized Lithuanian so
cieties he dressed himself in the uniform
of a major general and carried a gun
There is a Hungarian proverb: "Sallan-
ges a Magyar f'.The Hungarian is fon6
of trappings'0. One may see in the pro
cessions that march through the streets
to church dedicaticns, funerals, ard the
celebration Of birthdays Of Polish CT HIN
garian heroes the uniforms of nearly all
of the generals of Europe.
Such in brief, is the Slav as he is known
in the mining region Imported in masses
worked in masses. voted in masses han
h. ta Iah f.nionc in ynacSas nd