The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-12-12
TO
SAD STORIES
Coal Strike Commission Hears Of Con-
ditions The ExistanCe Of (which
It Never Dreamed.
STRONG TESTIMONY AGAINST TRUST.

Scranton, Dec. 1.-THE commission
now endeavoring to get at the real
situation in the Pennsylvania an
thracite coal fields has at last reach
ed that which alone is of vital import,
IL American liberty means anything
nowadays the conditions under
which the miners work and under
which they and their families are
compelled to live.
Some of these toilers of the earth
have related, under solemn oath, tales
Of cruelties inflicted and sufferingi
undergone, caused by the heartless en-
forcement of machine, money-gather-
ing methods, which startled the calm
minded commissioners into genuine
horror
A climax in the story of mans in
humanity to man" that is being told
by the witnesses before the arbitra-
ton commission was reached this
week when a hopeless, mained, and
been evicted from one of the opera
tors houses with his sick wife and
her aged mother. The miner appear
ed on the witness stand, though his
wife had died only the day before
from privation and lack of decent
home, and though the mother. hun
dred years old and blind, was near to
deaths door,
The ctory of this witness was so
touch!ag that it affected the members
of the commission visibly, causing
Judge Gray to pace the floor from
sheer agitation.
The distinguished jurist showed
what he felt when he dismissed the
witness with the remark that that
is all and it is enough"
The story of the mother whose hus.
band was killed in the Markle mines,
of how she and her two boys strug.
gled for thirteen years to pay the
back rent and coal bill she owed them.
was another feature of a recent ses-
sion of the commission.
The testimony as presented by some
OF the witnesses whose lives are given
up to the coal mining industry was at
times pathetic and surprising to tho
commissioners, who listened to it with
attention.
THE WOMAN DIED.
Andrew Hannik, a Hungarian, told
how the Markles evicted him. He was
followed by Henry Coll another
Marltle miner, who told how his fam
lily, including his mother-in-law, who
was a hundred years oil, were set out
on the road with their household
goods. He gave a graphic descrlp-
tion Of how he was injured many
times in the mines He said one of
his legs was no better than a wooden
one he only had one eye. his hands
have been crushed, ribs broken, and
skull fractured The company gave
him nothing until after the employees
took up a collection for him; then
he was given $50, after being on the
injured list for two years. The COM
pany took out of the collection the
rent he owed.
In answer to other questions he said
hat he was one of the thirteen eyict-
ID by the Markle company. The only
'ent he owed was for the months dur
ng the strike. The company gave no
'eason for evicting him.
Then followed the most pathetic
tory yet told the commission. The
I'D miner. decrept from many in
uries. told under the examination of
low the eviction was carried on. The
wife was sick, and her one-hundred- |
mother was blind and unable |
o walk. The day on which they
we're thrown out" was rainy. He
ook them as best he could to Halle
on. seven miles away, and placed |
hem in a cold, damp, empty house. |
This was last month, when the at
nosphere on the Hazleton mountain |
vas quite cold. His wife became
worse. Medical aid was kindly fur
,ished free by a Hazleton doctor, but |
t did not help her much.
I'VE were greatly worried because
# our having been turned out of our
iouse, and one night" the witness
aid, between sobs, "she died"
"She died." exclaimed Judge Gray.
Who was pacing to and fro across the |
'oom, as he quickly turned when he
heard the mans last words
Yes, sir; she died and / buried her
COMMISSION AFFECTED.
All the commissioners and many Of
hose In the court room were. much
affected by the old mans story. The
witness went on to say that he did
not know whether the centenariaI
was alive today or not.
She was in bad condition owing
% her daughters death, when left
lome last night" said he.
No one dared to ross-examine
aim, and Judge Gray said: THAT is
all, Mr.. Coll, and that's enough"
An eighteen-year-old Hungarian
late picker, employed by the Markle
company said that before the strike
ne received eighty-five cents, now he
'eceived only seventy-five cents a day. |
rhe company never notified him of
he reduction and he still does the
same work. He said the breakers
BOSS, who stands over the breakers,
1ften dubbed Lin, kicked him. and