The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-08-02

JOHN MITCHELL,
National President of the y. NJ. w. of A.
attended and heard addresses by Pres-
dent John Mitchell and a number Of the
local officers of the Mine Workers.
Further than voting unanimously by
| raised hands to fight the fight to
finish the meeting took no action.
The crowd was made up of mine
workers from all over Scranton and
| the adjoining towns. some coming from
| as far North as Olyphant and as far
south as Duryea. Locals from Provi-
dence, Bellevue and Taylor, marched
| to the meeting behind a band or drum
| corps and carrying flags and banners.
The intense sultriness of the day, it is
| claimed, dissauaded many from join
| ing these marchers. The North End
| contingent which was expected to come
| 1000 strong had less than half that
| number in line. Many North Scranton
! men, however, Travelled to the meeting
by trolley.
The meeting was advertised for 2
o'clock, but it was nearly an hour later
when it was gotten under way. The
day was extremely hot, the thermometer
registering So in the shade, and the
scarce in the matter Of live trees, af-
forded little protection from the sun.
The crowd, however, was very patient
and seemed not to mind in the least
the hardship it was enduring to demon
strate it's loyalty to the strike cause
or get glimpse Of Mitchell as the case
| might be.
SIZE OF THE CROWD.
| The small platform was erected on
| the top of a slight elevation at the
northern end of the woods. All around
it in circle, fifty yards in diameter the
sweltering crowd was packed. The
trees commanding view of the plat
form were fairly alive with boys and
some men. Several hundred women
stood about the edge of the crowd.
Theophilus Phillips, president of the
West Scranton sub-district was chair
man Of the meeting. With him on the
platform We're President John Mitchell,
District President T. d. Nichols, Dis
trict Vice-President Adam Ryscavage,
District SecretaryTreasurer John T.
Dempsey, Organizer Martin Memola
and others. All these named made ad-
dresses. Vice President Ryscavage
spoke in Polish and Organizer Memola
in Italian.
The crowd enthusiastically cheered
all the speakers, and fairly went wild
over Mitchell. When he was introduced
to speak, someone shouted, Hats off"
and although the suns rays beat down
so intensely that many We're carried
from the crowd exhausted, every man
in the vast assemblage barred his head
and remained uncovered until the
speech was concluded. Then the crowd
surged about the platform and shook
the hands of the magnetic young
leader until he sank exhausted into a
chair. The long-drawn-out "Ah." that
went up from the throng as Mitchell
almost collapsed was eloquent of pity
and condemnation. Don't kill the
man." shouted someone in the crowd.
1--WE need him.
Mitchell's speech was brief and dealt
mainly with the live issues of the con-
tlict. He said:
MITCHELL'S SPEECH.
Ladies and gentlemen: 1t is needless to
say | am pleased to meet SO many of
the men and women who are making this
great, silent, passive struggle for higher
citizenship and American conditions of
employment.
| have not come here to discuss the
fundamental principles of the strike situ-
alton or the philosophy of the labor aues-
ton. i am here to pay my humble trib-
ute to your people who are fighting the
fight so well. have also come for an
other purpose.
your friends that the miners of the Scran-
ton region are getting tired of the strike
and about to return to work. l come to
find out If this is so. l want to know If
you are going to return to work, dishon-
oring your organization and dishonoring
yourselves" tCrieS of "NeVer. Never!"
mo-" Don't you believe it," and the
like)
The issue is clearly defined 1t is one
thing or another with you. On the one
hand is dishonor and misery. On the
other, years of comparative peace and
prosperity and the upholding of your in
tegrity.
If the strike is lost, may God Almighty
help the meD, women and children who
depend for their subsistence on the min
Ing OF anthracite coal. II the strike Is
lost you will pay the cost of the strike.
The operators are no more humane now
than they have been for the last twenty
five years; than they were when they
drove your little boys to the breaker and
your little girls to the mills.
l want to say that the anthracite min
ers went on strike themselves. They,
themselves, voted for the strike. 1t was
not the officers of the United Mine Work.
ers who called the strike. 1t will never
end until you vote 1t ended.
From the offices of the coal presidents
In New York comes the declaration that
the strike will be settled only in their
way of settling it. l would repeat
what / said in this connection in
the 1900 strike: THE coal trust may be
powerful and strong. but the American
people whose hearts throb in sympathy