Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-11-25
AND POLITICS.
VERY INTERESTING CoMMUNICA-
TION FROM A READER OF
THE REGISTER.
CONDITION OF TILE CAMPS
OF Diggers Wildly Descrfbed-Lack
of Sanitation Is the Cause of the
Dread Disease In the Short Line
Railroad Camps-How the Men Are
Secured I'm Washington.

Secured I'm Washington.
The Register is In receipt OF very
interesting communication from a
gentleman, now a resident OF this city,
who desires that his name be with
held from publication. He gives de-
tailed account OF the method by which
men are secured by the Washington
employment agency. for work in this
State, and also gives a graphic des-
cription of the condition of the dig
gers" camps along the Short Line rail-
road, taking the position that small
pox was not brought into the camps,
but was bred there. The writer also
denies that ne was sent to West Vir-
GINA to vote the Republican ticket, as
serting that here was no mention OF
politics TO him. The communication,
in part, Is as follows:
my object in writing this is of a
twofold nature, and shall be perfect
ly candid. In recent issue you spoke
of the Republican managers importing
smallpoX-nfested negroes from Vir-
ginia, Maryland and North Carolina
tor the sole purpose of casting a few
illegal and unlawful votes. This is a
sweeping charge, and no one has been
more interested in it than myself, for
| was one of those sent up here by one
S. H. johnson, who has been mention
ed in your Washington correspond
ence several times. Tersely l got
much too much Johnson" and SO old
we all.
Il came up here through little 'ad'
in the want columns of the Washing
ton Times, signed S. H. Johnson. 1t
was about tie 10th day of July, and if
l have seen this kind of 'ad' once l
have seen it fifty times in the papers
of Washington ana Baltimore, and
believe not merely this year, but for
several years back. At the time of my
coming there was another 'ad running
for men to work at the same rates and
on the same road. This man kept an
exchange and he required so cents for
information leading to employment.
Several of US refused to pay this fee
and left this F street mans place and
went to Johnson. At the F street
place there were perhaps five times as
many white men as at Johnson's, and
at Johnson l found four white men
and one colored man.
johnson is laboring man of about
so years of age, as black as black can
be, and lives in negro omnibus row
up in northeast Washington. Mr..
Johnson said we were to get s130 to
$500 per day, and could work four
years out here if we chose We were
to have transportation out free, but
would have to get back the best way
we could. His offer was very satisfac-
rtory to each and all of us. No poll
tics were mentioned during the half
hour l was there. He said in reply to
question Of mine, he had no politics,
and if we all let politics alone and did
our work, we would get along in this
wise and prosper.
Now Of these men here about to en-
list one was consumptive-lookin
young man with a family; one a circus
man; another had been in the army
out on the plains and in Cuba; another
was 'hobo;' another a well-dressed
pockmarked man who said he was
puoIACco vi du GllLdURlH, IN.
j., paper, laid off and had come to
Washington with the Mystic Shriners,
hoping to get an Office of some kind;
another was an old man of 80, whom
Gen. Garfield had gotten into the
Treasury Department years ago. Mr.
Cleveland made him a civil service ex-
aminer and his politics go SO warped
that no was spotted last winter and
NJ. A. Hanna fired him out. He had
gone back to teaching, then to lectur-
ing. i understood him to say he made
the astronomical calculations for Hos
letters almanack for years-in camp
he had about twenty years OF these
green backs and ii he made the pic
lures and made up the rest | should
not be at all surprised. AS for myself
had been doing. little or nothing for
months and a dollar and thirty cents
per day, the minimum fee would be a
godsend to me.
put this query TO Johnson: do
you think we would make good men
for the job you send us to West Vir-
ginia TO take up?" He looked US over
and said: You will all do Come TO
the depot at sharp" This was but
two hours notice, but ali but ore Of
us at the house were there before )
and we found there with Johnson per-
haps a dozen negroes, most OF .them
young orickyard bucks-seyeral of
them from Alexandria county, Vir-
ginia.
When we got off the train at Man
nington the leader or sub-agert.
Dodds. also coal black, did some live
~ telephoning for team 10 carry US
out TO the diggings They 'phoned
Dodds to get out the best he could
He could breakfast at Smiths. After
good breakfast at Smiths we started
out afoot and reached the diggings
about 1880 and the shacks about 100.
Here we were listed and given an order
on the company store for 81 50 and
were told We need not work that day.
Having done reportorial work am
OF an observant turn of mind There
were. perhaps. 200 negroes, and twenty
white men at this camp. Some of the
latter were Italians, one a Swede. [
found fully twenty-five of the negroes
there to be from Alexandria county,
near my home. ! found few Of them
there very long. and that they fre-
quently deserted. They declared that
they had to live like Cinnamon and not
starve; that they could not get accuS-
toned to the climate. and there was
no beer TO be had, no rum, no whis-