The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-08-09

pleasant streets of Bethesda, for the town
was wholly dependent on the great quar-
ries. On the one hand there have been the
usual bloody conflicts with the "bradyrs,'
as they call the men who replace strikers
in Wales, and all sorts of cruelties prac-
ticed on the women and children OF the
newcomers. On the other hand the families
of the strikers have suffered all the tor
lures of hunger, and some Of them have
been elected from the homes they built.
The shopkeepers OF the town are ruined
n the place is falling into decay. In
stances are on record of men who have
gone mad from the misery OF the strike.
The $4,000 raised for the sufferers by pop
ular subscriptions has been only enough to
keep them alive.
Some 400 of the strikers have gone back
TO work, about 600 of them have gone TO
the South Wales mines and a number have
gone to America. A hundred have died,
chiefly of starvation. In all about 1000 men
are now working in the quarries, but 1t is
said that the work is being done at a loss,
whereas Lord Penrhyn's net income from
this source used TO be about $4,000 d year.
WHERE CARNEGIE COMES IN.
King, Queen, prime minister and govern
ment in general having failed to get Lord
Penrhyn to bulge, an effort is now on foot
to cut him out-and that is where Andrew
Carnegie comes in. At the American mil
lionaire's suggestion, 1 am told, three or
the largest and most generous employers Oh
labor in the country, namely, W. II. Lever
of Port Sunlight, George Cadbury, the mil
lionaire cocoa manufacturer, and Alder
man Bowring, of Liverpool, are formulating
a scheme to buy up quarries In the imme-
date neighborhood of Bethesda and work
them in opposition to Lord Penrhyn on CO.
operative lines.
The company will start on a modest cap
ital of $50, 600, to be increased as occasion
demands; and of this, my informant says,
Mr.. Carnegie will subscribe a substantial
sum. He does not purpose to take any ac-
tive part in the scheme, but he has ex-
pressed his confidence in the undertaking,
especially as its operations will be directed
by such practical business men as those re-
ferred to. The concern will be known as
the North Wales Quarries. Ltd" and 1t
will have such men as William Abrahams,
NJ, p, and Richard Bell, NJ. p, in it. The
area to be acquired is about 300 acres, and
it is estimated that from the start employ
ment Will be provided for a thousand men.
Lord Penrhyn, on discovering the move
ment, instructed his agent to look around
and buy up any land in the neighborhood
that had the remotest suspicion of contain
ing minerals of any value. The agent Sc
cured several acres on the mountain sides,
and for these properties prices were paid
out of all proportion to their anticipated
mineral value. The cooperative people say
that his lordship's idea was to shut out
the possibilities of competition and starve
the strikers into submission at any cost.
The co-operators had secured a portion of
the Maelon mountain. which was favorably
reported on as containing slate of great
value. Lord Penrhyn Immediately bought
up the remaining portion, although geolo-
gists had always agreed that 1t could not
contain minerals of any worth. His lordship
also secured sporting rights over the whole
of the mountain, and he now defies the CO.
operators to touch a bit of their own prop
erty. This action of his will involve litiga-
ton that will be long and costly, but with
his usual good luck, backed by his great
wealth, it is believed he will beat his OPP
ponents. /.
A QUEER COMBINATION.
Yet this man. who was described in the
House Of Commons the other day as an I'M
mitigated tyrant, and whose life probably
would not be safe in Bethesda, has been
famous for his charity and kindly interest
in those who are dependent upon him. The
tenants on his vast estates have found him
tender hearted to a degree.
Some years ago, when he was high
schariff of his countv If hacauoa his d1fv 70
attend a hanging. The thought of the thing
made him sick, and it required all the per-
suasive powers Of his wife n family to
cause him to attend. His absence would
nave been regarded as a contempt for the
law snfficient to land him in Jail. He went,
but the scene so affected him as to cause
a severe illness. and he declared after his
convalescence that he would sooner suffer
the death penalty himself than witness an
other execution. He resigned the office of
high sheriff Immediately, and no one has
ever been able to persuade him to accept
a position of the kind since. At his club,
among his political friends nd opponents
and at social functions of all kinds, he is
the most unobtrusive man, simple In his
habits and apparently at peace with all the
world. Even the quarrymen themselves adj
NIT that his attitude toward them is not
dictated by motives of cruelty, but from
sheer obstinacy, which has cost him at least
$500. 900.
One outcome Of the struggle is of especial
American interest. LAS a result of this dis
pute,' said the speaker in the House of
Commons. 1.-THE slate market is now flooded
for the first time with American states.
The American quarry owners have for
many years tried to effect a Judgment for
their states In this country; they nave new
succeeded. and it will be difficult to dis
lodge them
Another interesting point in the parlia-
mentary debate was the frequent reference
to President Roosevelt's action in the coal
strike. Various speakers wanted to know
of Mr.. Balfour and his Cabinet why it was
that such things could be done over there
and yet couldn't be done here.
Lord Penrhyn has enormous wealth and
three country seats. including about 10000
acres. One Of them, Penrhyn Castle, at
Bangor, is famous among tourist all over
the world for its beauty and Is distin-
guished among the great English mansions
for splendid hospitality, as the King him
self can Testify. One'of Lord Penrhyn's an
cestors was so keen a patriot that he fitted
out and manned a ship at his own expense
to fght the Spanish Armada, and incurred
so much in fines by his zeal against the