The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-09-29

hain't much Of show, you know, agin
sev'ral hundred. Every other wan of
'cm wanted TO strike, only me. Tn
crazy for work and I've got n wife and
seven children and nothing to eat since
Saturday. 'Y'know they shut down
the down the mines Saturday. Can't
y give me a little breakfast? I'm ter
r'ble hungry and I'd like a few bites
To take home to the woman"
OF course there were eager and will
ing hands to minister to the poor miner
and after he had filled himself and his
pockets, he suddenly developed a desire
to hasten away as fast as possible.
I'm just crazy for work." he hur-
riedly remarked and l was meanin' to
ask If " didn't want wood chopped or
something, or y'r grass cut-it needs
it-but I'd fergot an important engage
ment to go to a meeting with another
man. SO if vi excuse me I'll come
back tomorrow and see about the
wood If | only had five cents TO buy
| a bit of sugar"
The miner" disappeared round the
corner with alacrity and the fve cents
| and the domestic outfit OF that kit
chen are still looking for him to re-
| turn to chop wood.
queer wasn't it?" remarked one of
| the maids, reflectively. "The strike
had only begun that very day and yet
| he was so hungry"
"I've been through three strikes"
| said a neat-looking woman the other
| day, as she stood at the door of her
| home. She was the wife of a miner
and she lived in a little black house
not far from a breaker. please come
! in," she was saying politely. "Our
| house doesn't look very nice outside,
! but it's different when you get in.
| It's really home-like and we are happy
here"
And home-lke it was. those three
| pretty rooms, neat and clean, as much
| scrubbing of windows and busting
| could make them; brussels carpet on
two floors, handsome, substantial fur
| niture: pictures on the walls, spotless
| curtains at the windows; such taste
ful honey rooms they were.
"They get such fearful pictures in
| the papers of the poor miners homes"
| she added, as her husband came out
| to second her invitation to enter.
| that we like to have folks see how
| things look from the inside. My man
don't drink and he just stays in these
| days when the strike is on and helps
| fix up the house." and she proudly
| pointed to many neatly contrived con-
Veniences in the tiny kitchen and
| about the yard, while the husband
| looked on with a glow of honest pleas
ure at her words. ''She's a good
wife" he said briefly. "She can get
on when we have good times and
when we have poor If all the miners
| had such wives, maybe there wouldn't
be strikes. Too many of 'em CAD
around and talk the Gay long, and
| their men don't want to stay home and
| make the best of what comes. This
| is our house and we own some land
| besides" he concluded.
| Yes, I've been through three
| strikes" the wife repeated, land no
| woman who's been through any wants
| another. | tell you, they're hard on
the women and children. I've seen
| 'em starving before this, and it's now
| that l think therc'll be many to starve
this time, unless It's soon over Some
of the miners have such hard jobs that
it uses up powder and some of 'em go
to the saloon and whichever way It is,
| it's bad for the women and children
never knowing whether the men who
| go out to their shift will come back
| alive"
There are some queer sights nnw-a-
| days which are the result of the strike.
| Yesterday man entered the train
| with a cheap telescope bag and drop
| ped alphabetically into a seat. looking
| out of the window with the stolid,
| Of l.
| Hun, with the heavy jaw, the dull
| eyes, the sallOw skin and the low
brow often seen in the mining suburbs
of this city and occasionally in the
street cars. He had little gold hoops
| in his ears and wore a derby !. of
| ancient lineage.
Just before the train started, an
| other Hungarian hurried into the car
and flung himself upon the neck of
| the first. They sat there, close in each
others embrace, for several moments
and then solemnly, ;heir stolid faces
| transigured with grief the two men
kissed each other, tears falling over
| their rough garb and their powder
| stained hands. The onluokers read tha
| pathetic little story, and not one on
| that car will ever again look upon
| these dark skinned strangers within
| our gates with the Indifference and,
perhaps, aversion hitherto enter
| tanned.
| All, we'll: who knows and who can
| tell when SO much is right and so
| much is wrong. just how to determine
| the only good way to settle the great
| disputes between capital and labor.
| Life is struggle at best for most of
| us, whether il is beneath the ground
| for bread, whether above it for So
cial or business supremacy. or whether
| it is in the effort to reach place
| where purer thoughts, noble work and
| simpler faith may enrich the restless
| spirit. 1t will probably be only when
| the miner and the mine owner and all
the rest of us have gone into very
| narrow chamber below the turf, from
| whence we cannot again step forth to
| look upon the sunshine and the stars.
| that for us all--the struggle will
| cease. Saucy BeSS.