The Savannah morning news., 1900-10-13
ONE PHASE or THE STRIKE.
Army Of Newspaper Men In the An
thracIte Coal Fields.

thracite Coal Fields.
From the Chicago Journal
Hazlcson. Pa. oct s,-No; the leas, In
,eresting feature OF the big coal strike is
the army Of newspaper men IN the field.
Hazlcton leads on with about s. repre-
son,atives o. metropolitan papers there
are score Of Scranton, more IN shame
kin and squads Of i've or ten IN a dozen
other Gowns.
The men a. Hazleton have had an ex-
perisnce that the others DID not get. The
immediate vicinity OF Hazleton has been
the nghting ground and here have oc-
CURED the marches" Now. march
may be % most dull and uninteresting AZ
fair or q may turn out 20 be repetition
Of the Lsuimer tragedy o. q. when -
men were killed and - Others we're wound
ed
Naturally then. the newspaper men feel
he necessity Of attending these functions
The marches are secret. and the only way
% be on hand Is 20 80 90 the mine where
the march Is expected and svai, develop
ments
Inasmueh as the rnnrchers start about
midnight 20 hike" over the bills u Is
easy 90 see that the correspondents 100.
are early rissrs
4 march" is a purely local custom. 60
far as can be learned. The miners 81 one
coliiery 10 on strike. and perhaps half or
all the men In mine ave or ten miles
away refuge 20 join. First argument -
used. but AFTER oral methods are exhaust
cd a march" is resorted to- Men and wo-
mcn. boys and girls all join In md start.
under cover 81 nigh. FOR the village Of
The recaicitrants They plan 10 reach their
destination before the men have started
FOR their days work in the mines.
a march. once started, grows Ike
snow ball rolling down hin Everybody
who may chaucr 20 meet or pass the
rlarchers Is compelled 70 Join their ranks.
They tell % Two Philadelphia newspaper
men who during the strike OF q. were
made 90 tramp IS weary. rocky miles, half
o. which were perpendicular miles. TRAY
ling men deputy sheriTs. coal and iron
police. all are quietly d.sarmed. put in
the front rank and driven on. up nlll ard
down
Having arrived az their destination the
marchefs tramp INFO the village and make
an uproar. shouting in an the z tongues
.n daily use un here for ali hearers 20 join
the strike and stop work There is usu-
atty a force a deputies or coal and iron
police on hand II the miners decline 10
qui; Il was the custom IN the old DAYS 10
heat them ard wreck their houses. With
strict organization this violence has been
eliminated
The simple appearance Of the marchers
seems 10 be enough TO spread the strike
fever But IN case violence is resorted TO
there Is the posse Of officers ready 20 open
hre and a pitched battle would be the
result
Nigh, after night the newspaper men
have climbed out Of bed at 2 ;. I and
o'clock and driven TO the various collier
ics Il Is practically a lottery, for no
man knows whether he will come upon a
parade or q peacefully Flumbering vii
LACE lie may return to town tired. hun
CRY ard disguised. only 20 learn that there
was "somethin' doin' " over ia the other
valley and that he has been beautifully
"scoopCd "
The nomenclature OF the country lends
itself TO the poetical fancy and the BOYS
have composed the following descriptive
ballad as their official war cry:
From NIahanoy to McAdoo,
Ana then jump 10 Jeddo;
Back again 90 Colerainc.
Then of 10 Beaver Meadow.
Then comes breakfast. the routine Wis
us 10 labor ana operators headquarters
and. after the afternoon papers 30 To
press "a nap.
Three newspopermen drove ten miles 10
Hazlebrook mine the other night. Half
the time there were no roads. and when
there were any they were worse than
non. The night was blacker than pol
itician's conscience. Finally after plod-
ding along three or four hours the driver
pointed out big black breaker booming
up ogninst the sky which WINS just turn
ing from black 90 gray before the hush
Of dawn.
YOU feIlers will have to foot It the
rest OF the way" he said.
Tine trio tramped over the slate piles
and came upon a tragic situation.
There was a posse OF officers. headed by
the sheriff. guarding the entrance 20 the
one street OF the village Opposite was
an angry crowd demanding the right 10
walk on a public highway All the ele-
ments FOR scrap" were there and the
deputies were ncrvously lingering their
guns. while the marchers were clearly
getting more excited every minute.
The reporters stumbled out into the road
exactly midway between the opposing
forces
Both sides were startled NJ each feared
the other was receiving re-inforcements
There In the gloom enc word would have
snapped the high-strung nerves OF the op-
pouents and precipita etl q battle.
one word would have done. but tho
foremos, reporter didn't use that word
Instead he peered through the darkness.
and recognized the sherinrs long white
ulster he sang out cheeriy.
Good morning. sheriff, have YOU u.s.
Pears soap"
II wasn't funny. I, was a very stale re-
mark but IL hit the right SPOT In all that
nervous tension. The sheriff let out a
hearty. whole-souled laugh the deput G
laughed and 50 did the marchers.
The tragedy was gone IN a minute. The
sheriff told the men they could enter the