The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-21

A most atrocious deed was perpetratet
last summer, which was by public opn
ion attributed to unionsm, though M
direct proof was ever found. a. non
union Polander had Il cow. One nigh
some wretch tied stick OF dynamite Il
its horns and blew its head to atoms
with such an element forming n large
percentage OF the mining population
there is every reason to believe that
should a conflict develop to it's mos'
serious stages. riots, blOodshed ana ar
son would be the inevitable result
About outrages.
Mr.. wolverton next read an article
from the Outlook written by DR.. Rob-
srts in October last. in which he fair
ly out-Sunned the Sun in setting forth
the "outrages" which occurred during
the strike.
In his direct examination, DIR. Rob-
erts had said that the newspaper re-
ports of the strike disturbances were
greatly exaggerated.
In his article in the Outlook, Dr. Rob-
erts describes in detail the violence
that occurred during the strike and
then proceeds to characterize the out
RACES as brutal beyond description.
revolving, savage and the like. Append
ed are excerpts.
Let us consider some of the acts OF
violence against persons. These some
times take a form that is brutal be-
yond description. Nothing in the an
malls Of savagery exceeds in brutality the
fatal assaults made upon Beddal. or
Shenandoah, and Winston, of Olyphant.
The savage attacks were revolving ana
horrible. The brute aroused in the SlaN's
breast is as fierce as the red-clawed beast
of the forest and this element when ex-
cited in the Celt's nature is a good third.
Some Savs proposed to mark every non
union man they caught by clipping his
ear They began the practice on vic
tim who they cought. who in addition
70 that was sIugged and pitched into tine
creek. Another non-union man was
watched by these men. Some friends
warned him to stay home, but the wife
was the head of the home and she sald.
"You must go to work. The man stood
hetwIxt two fires. He chose the less of
two evils. and by cunningly selecting
unreasonable hours he evaded the Wig
ilance of the ''vigilants." But one morn
ing about three o'clock he was caught
and slugged. A. woman heard the cries
and the pummeling. She rushed to the
window and shouted for help; the as
sailants took fright and scattered, leaving
their victim in a pitiful condition. If
that woman had not interfered the prob
ability is that another victim would have
been added to the list of the dead in this
strike. Another man, a mine foreman,
who lived in one of the mine patches far
removed from town, had longing to
come to town, where he had not been
for several weeks. He rislied 1t on a
Saturday evening. The "vigilants' saw
him and lay in wait; that night the man
was sandbagged: he lost his purse and
watch. and carried marks of the assault
for many days.
hfY, f1,n lac fUa tN-f0
the National Guards are pouring into
the coal fields. a house was dynamited at
Brownville, deputy trounced and thrown
into the creek, a non-union man slugGed
on the streets of Shamokin. the men at
work in a mine at Mount Carmel fired
upon and stoned. and mob dispersed
by troops at the Royal Oak colliery.
non-union man and his wife whom we
saw last evening said, I'VE fear moth
ing as dynamite" and the woman. who
suffered from heart trouble. said. Il
can't sleep at night. 7 imagine they are
coming all the time
State of Warfare.
This is the state of warfare which ex-
lists in our society up to the coming of
the National Guard. The instances above
given could unfortunately be multiplied
indefinitely, and no section Of the anthra-
cite coal fields is exempt All parts Of
tlllS area dle lOl euudiy SubJeClcu "
reign of terror. We know of some sec
tions where foremen go and come as they
choose, notwithsta andlng they are ''scab-
bing"; in other communities the spirit of
lawlessness runs riot, and before it all
sense of deccncy, personal rights, and
obedience to law is swept away. Street
cars are held up, persons in them slugged,
incoming trains are watched, the names
OF those who leave home for other parts
of the anthracite coal fields to secure
work are published, and their families
malgned and ostracized. 1t is lament
able state of affairs, and occasionally
such villainous deeds are done that men
who have connived at slugglng mold up
their hands in horror. Think of the Will
ain who in the silent hours of the night,
places dynamite under the porch of the
house of a non-union workers, whose wife
was about to become mother and to
whose side nestled her two little children
while their father was at work. That
dastardly deed SO aroused the ire of one
OF the priests that he charged the men,
bers of the union with murder. mot"
said he, "of men who can defend them
selves, but of innocent women and harln-
less children-yes," he added, you try To
murder even the unborn"
Lawessness against property is also
prevalent The order calling out the
engineers. firemen, pump-runners, fire
bosses and barn bosses must ever he
regarded by the unprejudiced as an overt
act against the preservation of property.
The mining industry differs from most
other industries because of the fact that
the fixed charges are constant regardless
OF the production of coal. Unless one is
ready to abandon a mine he must every
day pump out the water, repair the gang
ways, and keep open the passages made
for the air. Here in the anthracite coal
fields millions of dollars are sunk in
Or 4FG oil. ss.N...
engines, pumps, etc, If all the pump
runners, engineers, repair men and fire
men had deserted their posts, it would be
in every respect similar to the destruc-
tion of millions of dollars worth of prop
erty. The Lytle colliery was wholly de-
serted The operators said LET it
stand" Since June no water has
been pumped, and this plant, repre-
senting capitalization of over three !
quarters of a million, Is gradually filling
up. 1t will take from four to five months
to get this colliery into working condi-
tion so as to employ its 500 hands and
produce the amount OF coal which was
shipped to market before the strike, viz,
2IO,3ll tons annually. During the last
december floods one of the employees of
Preston eolliery No. 3 fell down the shaft. |
Ihe Heading company for over six months
worked at that water i'm order TO recover |
the remains of the drowned man. In |
july last, after an expenditure of nearly |
10000. they succeeded in getting tile |
body. No sooner was this done than the |
local union insisted upon the engineers |
and firemen coming out. They did so,
ana the coiiiery Is abandoned and the |
pumps removed. III the company will not |
open it again, 800 employees will be out of |
employment and 135.lll tons less coal an |
nually shipped to market. IL II Is opened, |
II Will mean another expenditure of $4,000 |