New-York tribune., 1900-10-07

lord to the marriage license Office, walking
at a 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 unpronOunceabe 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.
An Hungarian wedding lasts three days or as
long as the beer holds out A table, loaded with
food, which stands in one of the rooms is re-
plenished from time to time. but never
cleared. The guests dance all day and all
night, the bride Is bound to dance with
all comers, and as each pays for the
honor a buxom bride can a consid-
cradle dowry with her feet. These weddings are
both nuisance and menace to the nelghDor-
hood for the customs they have brought from
the mud walls and hard earth floors of their
native land repeated here. Hobnailed boots
for dancing slippers and shirt sleeves for dress
coats are the rule, and broken floors, smashed
windows and general demolition are the ordl-
nary results, while pistol shots may characterize
an affair more frolicsOme than usual.
When they first came to America they bore
the marks of having lived under a strong gov
ernment They had never been allowed to own
firearms, and they looked upon man in uni
form as a superior being. They walked In the
middle of the street because they did not know
that they allowed to use the sidewalk, and
they went around open lot instead Of going
across it. They had come of a long line of an
cestors who had been conquered and enslaved
by every armed force that crossed their borders
The very name Slav is the parent Of the word
slave and the Russian peasant was, not long
ago, bought and sold with the land like the tim
ber and WatercOurSes
The Slav was no sooner settled in America
than three distinct ipfiuences 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 conditions which drove the Irish and
Welsh lahorers out of the mines the Slav
thrived he saved his money and sent for his
friends to follow him the sea. Dirty he was
and rough. and lived like a beast"-but so did
the "Argonauts 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 of the labor
unions which, failing to prevent his coming,
aimed legislative enactmentS at him. The Penn
syIvania Legislature has passed a number
of mine laws. making it illegal to employ miners
who could not speak English or who could not
pass examinations air currents gases, etc.
and imposing a tax of three cents a day on
aliens It is true that man who cannot speak
or understand the English language and who is
ignorant of gases and air currents is danger
Gus fellow workman in so explosive place as
coal mine But all these restrictions operated
to educate the Slav. He learned English he
learned mining, he became naturaliZed The
labor unions. having failed to drive him out
took another step-they adopted him. That was
the beginning OF the Lattimes affair and the
present strike