davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

'em, and he give me lead pencil, too,
with red in one end and blue in the
other. Father, you sharpen it"
Tod never spoke better in his life
than on that memorable afternoon-so
well, indeed, did he acquit himself that
the good old father failed to censure
him that evening for the sin Of fight
ing, ana perhaps never would have
done so had not the Door blind man
so far forgotten the dignity of his
great affection as to get drunk as he
was blind two evenings following, and
played tne fiddle in front OF the meet
ing house during divine service.
1t was in the vacation following these
aforementioned incidents that an oc-
currence of far more seriousness took
place.
Tod had never seen circus. for
until this eventful epoch in our simple
history the humble little village had
never been honored with the presence
OF this "most highly moral and instruc-
tive exhibition of the age" When the
grand cavalcade, with its blaring
music and its richly eaparisoned horses
with their nodding plumes and span
giles, four abreast, drawing the identi-
cal fiery chariot Tod had heard his
father talk about; when all the highly
painted wagons with their mysterious
contents, and the cunning fairy ponies
with their little, fluffy names and
fiossy tails-when all this burst upon
Tod's enraptured eyes, he fell mutely
into place behind the band wagon, with
its myriad followers; and so. dazed
stricken and entranced, accom-
panied the pa geant on its grand tri-
umphal march around the town.
Tod carried water for the animals
Tod ran errands of all kinds for the
shoWmen; Tod looked upon the gruff,
ILL tempered canVas-hand with an awe
approaching reverence. Tod was go
ing to the show. too, for he had been
most fortunate in exchanging his poor
services of the morning for the 'open
sesame" OF all the dreamed-of wonders
of the arena. Tod would laugh and
whisper to himself, hugging the ticket
closely to his palpitating side, as he
ran about on errands of a hundred
kinds, occupying every golden interlude
of time in drawing the magic passport
from his pocket and gloating over the
cabalistic legend. Complimentary, .
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

in the coal region. By years / am So.
But look at the marks on my body;
look at the lines of worriment on my
forehead; see the gray hairs on my
head and in my mustache; take my
general appearance, and youH think
I'm ten years older.
You need not wonder why. Day in
and day out, from Monday morning to
Saturday evening, between the rising
and the setting of the sun, 1 am in the
underground workings OF the coal
mines. From the seams water trlckles
into the bitches along the gangways; II
not water. it is the gas which hurls us
70 ETERNITY and the props and timbers
to a chaos.
Our daily life is not a pleasant one
When we put on our oil soaked suit IN
the morning we can't guess all the
dangers which threaten our lives we
walk sometimes miles to the pIace-to
the manway or travelling way, or TO
mouth OF the shaft on top of the slope.
And then We enter the darkened cham
hers of the mines. On our right and on
oI- left we see the logs that keep up
the ton and support the sides which
NAV crush us into shapeless masses, as
they have done to many OF our com
rades.
We get old quickly. Powder. smoke,
afterdamp. bad air-ah comolne 70
bring burrows to our faces and asthma
to our lungs
did not strike because l wanted to;
7 struck because I had TO. miner
the same as any other workman-must
earn fair living wages, or he can't i've.
And it is not how much you get that
counts. 1 have gone through IL all ana
think nv case is a good sample
I vas married in 1880. when was 3
years old-quite a bit above the age
when we miner boys get into double
harness. The woman l married IS hke
myself She was born beneath the
shadow of a dirt bank: her chances Tor
school weren't any better tnan NINE
r,,t sba aid have 10 learn how to keep
house an a certain amount of money.
J After we paid the preacher for tying
/ the knot we had just $1S5 in cash, good
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20
RILEY AS A SONG WRITER.
IS. Louis GIohe-Democrat.l


Aside from his youthful efforts in the
Greenfield brass band. which his pastoral
verse has made famous, no one heretofore
has suspected James WhitComb Riley.
the HOosier poet. Of possessing musical
talent Mr. Riley, however, has sur
prised his friends, and is the author of a
quaint bit OF melody which shortly viii
be presented to the world at large by
Well-known muSical publishing house The
critics who have heard the song declare
that ii possesses merit as marked as that
dominating Mr. Riiey's verse MIR. Riley
himself said tonight: Yes. have writ
ten a song. but 1 haven't been talking
about it. It is not ready for publication
There viii be three stanZas. Ny air for
the words might prove 50 defective that
ny Eeco friend, a techrrs- Sausician, may
advise me not to print it
Il don't mind telling you what II IS.
It's an Elizs bethan catch, and harks back
TO the quaint pastoral poetry and song OF
that period. At least that is what 1 in
tended X should BE-
-'1cu ask as 10 my musical ability,
pOun0Ed the snare drum in the Greenfield
band IN the year 1873 or about that time
have a little musical gift. but no Guilt
walton I've operated on the violin, ban
started out with the flageolet- You
know that remarkab bic instrument II mas
a goiter in the neck, and swells cut Ike a
cobra di capello. You blow IN one END OF
it and the performer is often as greatly
surprised at the output are the neaI-
ers- That's the only training ever had
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

house half an hour before the ringing
of the bell"
A boy was sent to bring him, but re-
turned alone, to say that he had not
been able to find any trace of him.
"Oh, he'll be here in time enough
said the teacher, apologetically, to the
.sad-faced minister: Hes deeply inter
ested in his effort for this afternoon,
and I'm certain he wouldn't purpOseiy
disappoint me-" The good man, in re-
ply, shook his head resignedly, with
prayerful fight of the eyes. Indicative
of long suffering and forbearance.
The opening services of singing and
prayer. No Tod
First class in arithmetic called-eX-
amined. No Tod
Second class, ditto; still no Tod. Pri-
mary class in ditto, composed of little
twin sisters, aged s, with very red hair
and very fair skin. and very short
dresses and very slim legs. Tod failed
to join his class.
The long-suffering minister was i'll at
ease. The exercise failed in some way
to appease the hunger of the soul with
in. He looked out of the open window
nervously, and watched a saucy little
| sapsucker hopping up and down a
tree; first I'D one side and then down
the other, suddenly disappearing near
him with mischievous pecking near
! the top fork. He thought of his poor,
Maynard boy, with a vague, vague
! hope that he might yet. in some wise
ruling of a gracious Providence. escape
| the gallows, and with deep sigh
| turned to the noisy quiet of the school
/ room; ne did not even smile as he
! took up Tod's geography, opened at
/ the boys latest work-a picture of the
I q
/ in his shirt sleeves hacked away at a
4 gnarled and stubborn looking tree,
| without deigning TO notice a Stampeding
| herd of buffalo that dashed by in most
/ alarming proximity. The nonchalance
/ OF the sturdy yeOman was intensified
/ by Tod's graphic pen, which had
] mounted each plunging monster with
4 a daring rider, holding a slack bride
rein in one hand, and, with the other,
swinging a plug hat in the most ex-
ultant and defiant manner. This piece
of grotesque art and others equally
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20
LIFE OF MINER IN THE PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRACITE COAL REGION

health and the good wishes of many
friends to start US off.
Our cash was exhausted in buying
furniture for housekeeping. In 1890
work was not so plentiful, and by the
time our first baby came there was
room for much doubt as to how we
would pull out Low wages, and not
much over half time in those years,
made us hustle In 1S90-91, from June
to May I earned S36S.72. That repre-
scented eleven months work, or an
average of $33.52 per month. Our rent
was $40 per month; store not less than
$50. And then 1 had my oil suit and
gum boots to pay for. The result was
that after the first year and a half of
our married life we were in debt. Not
much, of course, and not as much as
many of my neighbors. men of larger
families, and some who made less
money, or in whose case there had been
sickness or accident or death. These
are all things which miner must pro-
vide for.
I have had fairly good work since I
was married. L made the average Of
what we contract miners are paid; but.
as said before, am not much better
off than when I started.
In 1896 my wife was sick eleven
weeks. The doctor came to my house
almost every day. He charged me $40
for his services. There was medicine
TO buy. I paid the drug store SIS in
that time Her mother nursed her. and
We kept a girl in the kitchen at sI.5O
a week, which cost me SIS for ten
weeks. besides the additional living ex-
penses-
In 1897. just a year afterward, 1 had
a severer trial. And mind, in those
years we were only working about half
time But in the fall of that year one
Of my brothers struck a gas feeder.
There was terrible explosion He was
hurled downward in the breast and
covered with the rush of coal and rock
1 was working only three breasts away
from him and for a moment was I'M
able to realize what had occurred. Nv
self and hundred others were soon al
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

suggestive of the outcropping genius
of their author. were put YEARLY aside,
only serving, as it seemed, to deepen,
rather than dissolve the gloom en-
shrOuding the good fathers face And
so the exercises wore along till recess
came, and with it came the missing
Tod.
I'm in time, am 1? GOODBYE shout
ed Tod. jumping over small boy who
had stopped to pick up a slate pencil,
and stopping abruptly in front 'of the
teachers desk.
Why, Tod; what in the worlds
Tod's features wore a proud. exUlt-
ant smile. though somewhat glamored
with a network of spiteful looking
scratches; and his eyes We're more than
usually bright. although their lids
were blue, and swollen to a size that
half concealed them. His head, held
jauDtily erect, suggested nothing but
boyish spirit; but his hair, tousled be-
yond all reason, with little wisps of it
ghled together with clots of blood; his
best clothes soiled and torn; a bruised
and naked knee showing through a
straight rent across one leg of his
trousers. conveyed the idea of a re-
cent passage through some gantlet Of
disastrous fortune.
1t was nothing, Tod said. only on
his way to school he had come upon
a blind man who PLAYED the fiddle and
sold lead pencils, and he boy who had
been leading him had stolen sonnet hing
from him; and Tod had voluntarily
started in pursuit of the fugitive, only
to overtake him after d prolonged
chase of more than a mile and now
I've got you out o. town. said the Of
fender, wheeling suddenly upon him
IN list meller YOUR head fer youi'
After a long pause, in which Tod's
face was hidden from the curious
group above him. as the teacher bent
above him at the back steps pouring
water on his head he continued.
Didn't think the little cuss was sc
Stout OH I'm scratched up, but you
ought to see him. And you ought tC
hear him holler 'NuffH and you ough
TO see him hand over three boxes OF
pens and them penholders and pencil:
I he stoPd and a whole bunch o. en-
velopes; there's blood on some of 'em
and the blind man said 1 could keel
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

your attention to it, he answered
No more was said then. But the
next day I got quiet tip that my
breast was to be abandoned. This set
me thinking / went to the boss and.
after few words, told him my wife
had found brother-in-Iaw Georges
store and that she liked it much bet
ter than where she had bought before.
l told him the other store didn't sell
the right kind of silk waists, and their
patent leather shoes were away back.
Brother-in-law George hid the right
kind of stuff and. of course, we were
willing to pay a few cents more to get
just what We wanted.
That was sarcastic, but it's the cash
that has the influence. 1 have had
work at that colliery ever since I
know my living costs me from 10 to
Is per cent extra But 1 kept my job,
which meant a good deal
Now you must take into considera-
ton that 1 am contract miner and
that my earnings are more than the
wages of three-fourths of the other
fellows at the same colliery. II is nOs
that I am a favorite with the boss 1
just struck a good breast Maybe next
month my wages would be from 81 to
IS IS or 81 less
We miners do not participate in the
high prices of coal The operators try
to prove otherwise by juggling with
figures, but their proving has struck
a fault, and the drill shows no cor
in that section One-half of the price
paid for ton Of coal in New York or
Philadelphia goes into the profit pocket
of the mine owner either as a carrier
or miner.
We al know that the price Of coal
has advanced in the past twenty years,
We also know that wages are less, that
the cost of living is higher remem-
Der the time. when I WIS a lad, my
father used 10 get his coal for 81 per
ton Now I pay g. In those days we
lads used to go to the dirt banks and
pick a load of coal, and il cost our
parents only SOC TO get it hauled home.
We dare not do that now Then we
did not need gum boots. safety lamps
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

1854 per month. Ny rent is s10.5O per
month. My coal costs me almost 81
per month. We burn a little over a
ton a month on an average and it
costs us over 50 per ton. Light does
not cost so much; we use coal oil al
together.
When it comes down to groceries is
where you get hit the hardest. Every
body knows the cost of living has been
extremely high all winter Butter has
been 80, So and SO cents a pound; eggs
as high as 30 cents a dozen; ham y
and 10 cents a pound; potatoes away
up to a dollar, I'D cabbage not less
than a cent a pound Fresh meat need
not be counted. Flour and sugar did
not advance, but they were about the
only staples that didn't Anyhow, my
store bill for those two weeks was Sill
That makes so per month. The butch
er gets IS per month Add them all,
and it costs me, Just to i've. $3.50.
That leaves 81 per month to keep my
family in clothes, to pay my church
dues and to keep the industrial insur-
ance going. My insurance alone costs
me 80 cents week, or $2.20 a month.
The coal president never allows his
stable boss 20 cut the amount of fod-
der allotted to his mules He insists
on so many quarts of oats and corn
to the meal and so much hay in the
evening The mule must be fed; the
miner may be, if he works hard enough
and earns money 10 buy the grub
g g g
Company stores are of the time that
has been. Their existence ended two
years ago. But we've got a. system
growing up that threatens to be just
as bad Let me explain. Over year
ago 1 was given breast TO drive at
one of our mines and was glad to get
il. Ny wife took her cash and went
around the different places TO buy
When 1 went TO the Office for my first
pay the super" met me and asked me
IF didn't know his wife's brother
George kept a store answered,
Yes" and wanted to know what that
had to do with IT.
Nothing, only I thought I'd call
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

we found him. horribly burned over his
whole body, his laborer dead alongside
of him.
He was my brother. He was single
and had been boarding He had no
home of his own I didn't want him
taken to the hospital, so L directed the
driver of the ambulance to take him
to my house. Besides being burned.
his right arm and left leg were broken,
and he was hurt internally. The doc
tors-there were two at the house when
we got there-said he would die But
he didn't. He is living and miner to-
day. But he lay in bed just fourteen
weeks, and was unable to work for
seven weeks after he got out of bed.
He had no money when he was hurt ex-
cept the amount represented by his
pay. All the expenses for doctors, med
icine. extra help and his living were
borne by me, except S25, which another
brother gave me- The last one had
none to give Poor work. low wages
and sickly woman for wife had kept
him scratching for his own family.
It is nonsense to say 1 was not com
PEELED to keep him. that 1 could have
sent him TO a hospital or the aims
house. We are American citizens and
We don't go to hospitals and poor
houses.
Let us look at things as they are to-
day, or as they were before this strike
commenced.
Ny last pay envelope shows wages.
after my laborer, power, oil and other
expenses were taken off, were $29.47
that was my earnings for two weeks,
and that extra good The laborer for
the same time got some 81. His wages
are a triffe over $40 a week for six full
DAYS. Before the strike of 1900 he was
paid in this region s1-7o per day, OF
! 5000 a week II the 10 per cent raise
J had been given, as we expected, his
wages would be $1-S7 per day. or s11-20
per week. or an Increase of $1.02 per
week But we all know that under the
present system he doesn't get any S11
/ Wei. as I said my wages were s29. Il
for the two weeks, or at the rate OF
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

or any such things as that: and for
all of them We must now pay out of
wages that have been reduced.
Our condition can be no worse; IL
might and must be better The luxur-
les of the rich we do not ask; We do
want butter for our bread and meat
for our soup. We do not want silk
and laces for our wives and daughters
But we want TO earn enough to buy
them a clean calico once in a while.
Our boys are not expecting automo-
biles and membership cards in clubs
of every city, but they want their IA
theirs to earn enough to keep them at
school until they have a reasonably
fair education
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

AN 50 years old. married. the father
l OF four children. and have lived in
ne coal region all my life. Twen-
y -lhree OF these years have been spent
'.Alns in and around the mines My
.-'1sF was a miner. He died ten years
50 rom miners asthma"
lhTee Of my brothers are miners:
.ole Of us had any opportunities to ac-
S-''e an education. We were sent to
t.Ool ,such a school as there was in
- eaySl until we were about u
~ iS or age, and then we were put into
~. screen room of a breaker TO pick
-I1.- rom there we went inside the
6 as driver boys. As we grew
,--.sti We were taken on as laborers,
So "e served until able to call our
~ miners. We were given work in
fva Is and gangways. There were
,sr,. VI Us boys. one lies in the GENE
BIZ, my tons Of top rock dropped on
ss lie was killed three weeks after
fo.ee C1 MS Job as a miner-a month be-
ne was 70 be married
Nle Hlteen years l have worked as
NJ ',.ller have earned the average rate
ro5oBeS any of US coal beavers get
! ,-s am little better off than when
~ '-IIed to do for myself I have SlL
h. nana. l am not in debt: 1 hope TO
FofsD4s 70 weather the strike without
an an sl only one of the hundreds you see
AZ street every day The muscles
IN ~ arms are no harder. the callous
ko-s.5 PAINS no deeper than my neigh
whose entire life has been spent
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20


me following striking narrative. =
HHlch has considerable interest at +
me present time. owing to the =
sI4Ne now in progress in that =
S.ate. is taken from the Detroit =
NS"S- Tribune. II bears the i'm y
press of truth AMI shows how pow =
. L.ly and progress go hand in =
. aand In the daily struggle for ex- =
' lsteuCe
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

And T1d-not Captain Kidd-had a
ringing i'm his ears as he sang, as he
sang, and an overflow of tears as he
The Tucson citizen., 1902-03-28
Thomas MCDormOtt Seeks
Freedom from Marital
Vows.
He Alleges that His Wife Has Been
GUILTY. OF Cruelty and Conduct
that humiIidted Him.

! Thomas McDepnott. proprietor OF
! the Arizona Club has brought suit
for divorce in the district court against
! his wife. Kate McDermott They re-
s4~e in pretty home on Pennington
street near Stone avenue and had
apparently been living happily to-
gether as they could have been seen
driving together almost any afternoon.
They were married in Denver Col,
in 1887. According to the complaint
which Mr.. McDermott filed with the
court, the trouble which was the im~
mediate cause for the bringing OF the
suit. occurred one week ago today
when he was out driving with his wife.
He alleges that at this time his wife
accuse him of peing unchaste and
! becoming boisterous assaulted him and
| grabbing his hat, tore it into pieces
and threw 1t in the street. thereby
causing him to go home without any
head covering and causing him great
mental anguish and physical suffer-
| ing.
In his complaint, Mr.. McDermott
| further alleges that during the last
| five years, his wife has been guilty of
extreme cruelty to him. He states that
on January 2, 1902. at Rossi's restau-
rant, while he was eating dinner, his
wife assaulted him with dishes and
ia Dleware, in the presence OF the en-
ployes of the restaurant, and that she
cursed, threatened and abused him,
thereby causing him great mental an
guish. He further states that on the
following day that she maliciously
broke and smashed the windows of
their residence on PJennington street
and by her loud and boisterous con-
duet. Inundated him and he was OBJ
liged to leave his own home He fur
ther alleges that on the day follow
ing that, while under the influence OF
liquor. that his wife visited his place
OF business on Congress street and
streatened to destroy the property
used in operating the business and
that she used such vile and abusive
language that she disturbed his peace
of mind and the peace and quiet OF
the neigh Dorhood so that the officers
found it necessary TO take her into
custody causing him great humiliation
mental anguish and suffering.
The complaint goes on to state fur
ther that Mrs. McDermott has q bad
temper and jelaous disposition and
that with out any just cause she has
accused her husband Of being unchaste
and untrue to his marriage VOWS.
McDermott sued his wife for di-
vorce about a year ago on similar
grounds but the case was dismissed
after compromise Mr. Dermott says
that he will not compromise lnis time
and mat he means to fight Tor the
divorce