Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1906-01-11
TRACY CITY HISTORY.

BoJ uCKet good tOr ooo uayo' anu ~
Father Time, as conductor, with MS
scythe ON his shoulder ready to punch
tickets Of passengers who get the tralh
at way stations How many OF us VIII
journey through to the end OF l9ooE
and how many will stop on the way at
different stations, is problem many
of us can't solve, yet many OF US VINO
start out with light hearts and good
health will fall out by the way while
others, who are in i'll health and sor-
row will reach the terminus OF lSOo.
Let us all be charitable and forgivlng
to one another and strive to make their
journey pleasant and happy so that
when we or they pass in our checks
we will have nothing to regret
Enough of moralizing. Perhaps l
cannot do better for the laboring man
than to give little history Several
years ago, do not remember the ex-
act date-the Tennessee Coal, Iron q
Railroad Company were having coal
mined at Tracy City by free miners.
l do not know how much they paid for
mining the coal, but | do know that
all those who let spirits along made
money and were doing well. | heard
some of the miners say they had clear
ed as high as ten dollars day, None
of them made less than $3.50 day
clear. Many of them bought lots on
, the installment plan and built comfort
) able dwellings on them and paid for
them in full, while others built dwell
ings and paid more or less on them.
All were prosperous Never a strike
, until the company went north ana
Q gave bond to deliver certain am
! cunt of coke and coal daily to some
iron makers at certain price. When
! the miners learned of this contract they
y struck for higher pay for getting out
: the coal. The company made their
deal at the figures they were at the
time paying for mining coal, not ex-
pecting to pay any more for getting 1t
out than they had been paying all a.
long. The miners thought as the
9 company was under bond with a for
% feiture attach ed, they would be COM
Q PEELED to give the rise or lose out en-
= tirely. The Tennessee legislature was
3 in session at the time. The Company
went to Nashville and told the legisla'
: ture the condition of affairs and asked
. for law to make Tracy City branch
u of the penetentiary, which was done.
II / happened to be in Tracy City when
/ the convicts were introduced there.
> There was, at the time, about three
10 hundred free miners lying around idle
III at the time, and | had hard work
:, pleading and begging them not to blow
:. :. up the mines, which they seemed ben
~ on doing. They had the guards run
inside of the stockade. and talked o
= lynching Col Colyer and other owners
of the mines Col Colyer told then
81 that any or all of them who desired tt
do SO could go to work at the sam
y price they were getting before tn
II strike: that he did not intend to turl
p any of them off, but that he could no
afford to pay higher for getting Goa
o. out. as he had leased his contract wit
the northern factory upon the price h
was paying. All those who had fami
III lies, finally went to work and man
's' who had no family also worked unit
they were squeezed out on account O
OF not having cars The company furr
NV ished plenty of cars to men of famlie
and about half the time to single meI
The result was that the men withor
g' families left and went to other fields {
labor Then the company could onl
furnish cars a portion of the time t
men with family, until many {
ast them failed to pay for their hom,
'u' and lost all they had paid and had I
~ no move off The miners were not tt
are only ones who suffered loss on accoul
,ut of that strike. The farmers with
to twenty miles of Tracy lost fine ma
we ket for their vegetables apples, peacl
ra. . es, pears, butter, eggs and milk.
an lived on the road from Sequachee Va
m ley to Tracy City Before the conyic
ci- were brought there, there was not
day in the year Sunday and all, tn
there was not a peddler going to Tr
cy to sell something to the miners
MY eat. | had a fine market for my veg
o,,u "lu tables, strawberries and cream and al
or thing that could be eaten. l even so
per poke greens at pc a bucket full.
lses want to say right here, that while t
ny miners who had wives and daughte
not only fed them well ON the hest t
land could produce lmt clothed the
in nice clothing and sent their chill
rem TO school. They seemed tp TAX,
delight in having -Huw.meu folks w
dressed and ! know they faI well f
2 ] have eaten many meals with the
After the couvi..- cau. there W
.Ls not more than One uadImaror-a pa
5hl td my house and r.laa mrI. half
- dav irving to -..I four pounds .s m
Z. tpr and finally u.s f- um..