davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

awaited me. When / boarded her [
requested the pilot to make Jew Fish
Creek by night if possible. At that
point two dredges with a crew of if
teen men each are at work. The line
crosses from the mainland to Key
Largo. We proceeded down Biscayne
Bay through lines of yachts and fish
ing boats and passing the homes OF
many mill.onaires, who spend small
fortunes here every year fishing for
tarpOn, Spanish mackerel and other
game fish, so plentiful in these wa
tiers.
About shutdown the wind freshen-
ed to half a gale, compelling us to
seek shelter for the night under the
lee of a key near Cutie Fish Banks.
Early next morning we entered Jew
Fish Greek, which separates the main
land and Key Largo, an island about
thirty miles long. At the southern
end the dredges Mikado and Prickley-
heat are constructing the grade
through swamDy land.
Members of the crew of the Mikado
confirmed what Mr.. Meredith said in
regard to working in water and mud.
They had no complaint to make. They
are paid $35 month and part of the
time are idle on account of the dredge
being compelled to stop work for lack
Of fresh water for the boilers. Wa
ter has to be transported in 10000
gallon tanks, from Miami. On occa-
sions like this the men go fishing or
loaf on the boat Their wages are
paid monthly, and no deduction is
made for time lost through no fault OF
their own. The dredgemen, as
whole, receive better wages than the
camp laborers. =.
On the lower end of Key Largo is
camp No. 2, where only negro labor
ers are used. l did not stop there, as
was anxious TO reach a camp of
white men known as No. 8, which is
situated on Windley's Island; sixty
miles south of Miami. There | found
thirty men from Philadelphia out of
a total of, one hundred and fifty-nine
in the camp.
Camp No. 8 is the nearest white
camp to Miami on the keys. l reach
ed there at IL o'clock and thus had an
GACbll6uI opportunity 70 see ana Jdth
with all the men, as it was their din.
ner hour. Taken as a whole, they were
a very hardy-lCOklng lot Of laborers.
There was not one man on the sick
list; in fact, the hospital tents were
empty in every camp / visited, though
there has been typhoid fever in sew
eral of the camps. These cases were
removed at once to the hospital at
Miami
Sanitary rules are strictly enforced
at all the camps. When the men had
finished their dinner l asked those
from Philadelphia to step forward
About thirty did so. I told these men
of the reports given out by labOrers
returning home. I asked if any one
of them was being detained against
his will or had to work under armed
guards.
Each man replied that he could
leave any time he wished to and new
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

settlement at Whale sound, Peary saw
a small native knife which attracted his
attention. The edge was composed Of
five small pieces Of iron. It was the
only one in the tribe, and Peary had
seen nothing to indicate the presence Of
metal in the vicinity. He made in
quiries, but the old men shhok their
heads; not one of them knew aught
save that it was very old and had come
from the iron mountain" which they
could not or would not locate.
The explorer resolved to make a
search for the mountain. After many
weeks, on the northern shore Of that
desolate body of water known as Mel
willie bay, Peary came upon three
meteorites They were known tc the
few Eskimos of the region as the Wo-
man, the Dog and the Tent. The Wo-
man and the Dog were brought to the
United States in 1895. Peary loaded
them by means of hydraulic jacks and
started southwark. On the cruise home
the presence Of the masses OF iron at
fected the ships compass to such a
degree that in bad weather the sailors
could not keep to their course, but had
to. depend on dead reckoning. These
smaller meteOrites were landed safely
and are now in the New York museum
with their larger companion. The WO-
man has a weight Of six tons and the
Dog only one.
|. But Peary was not satisfied until he
had made an attempt to transfer the
gigantic Tent to home soil He was not
satisfied even then, for his first attempt
resulted in failure to tear the monster
from its icy bed of centuries. He re-
turned to the task with largely in
creased facilities and finally succeed in
moving the mass inch by inch with his
powerful hydraulic lifting apparatus
and loading it on the deck Of the Hope.
When II touched the deck the Eskimos
who had helped to lead 1t bolted for the
shore in great haste, believing that It
would sink the ship. The stanch craft
careened visibly, but soon righted her
self and the homeward voyage was be-
gun. It was the most laborious voyage
Peary ever made. The ship aad to cut
her way rough icebergs, and the
storms were so violent that Il some
times seemed probable that the Tent
would get loose and crash through the
ships sides. Every man on board. not
excepting the intrepid commander, was
relieved when the unwieldX cargo was
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

er saw one of the walking bosses or
foreman carry a gun.
Martin Haley, who lives at, German
town avenue and Master street, Phil
adelphia, and drives mule car from
the quarry to the end of the grade,
said: THE men that went back home
did not come down here to work;
they wanted to get out of the cold
weather There are thirty Of us here
now. We are being treated right and
are going to stay on the job He
was correlated by Thomas Gallagher,
who lives on Philip street.
When requested to pose for a pic
ture for the Inquirer they lined up and
sat on some overturned cars laughing
and joking all the while. The whole
spirit of the camp was anything but
that of an oppressed body of men.
Some Bad Characters.
There are undoubtedly some bad
characters in each of the camps.
Where there is such a gathering of
men from all quarters this appears
perfectly natural For this reason
the paymaster and his assistant carry
revolver.
Leaving Camp No. s. we proceeded
to Camp No. 4, the location Of which
is ideal On sandy coral beach, the
extreme southern point of Upper Mat
acombe Key with the stars and
stripes floating from high pole are
a hundred and odd snow white tents
In the water over hundred men were
swimming when the resident engineer
Informed me the men were on strike
He had discharged Edward Cunning
ham of Philadelphia, a fireman, and
they all knocked off. This was not an
uncommon occurrence, he said, but
seldom tasted over day.
The statement of Albert Hook, of
116 Beach street, voices the sentiment
of all the Phiadelph a men here. Hook
said, You can just tel those young
ones back in Philadelphia they had
better stay at home iffthey expect to
come down here and walk on lemons
or pick oranges ali day. Our work is
better than the average and have no
kick coming. Those young ones go
back to Miami, spend all they make
on whskey,s get locked up and into
no end of trouble"
l found every case OF typhoid fever
had been removed from Camp No. 4.
This is due to the men sinking the
sanitary regulations which the engi-
neers make every effort to enforce,
both for their own health and that Of
the men under them
One of the Oldest Camps.
Camp No. 8, located on the west
shore of Lower Matacombe Key, is
one of the oldest camps. 1t was start
ed last November. AT No. there are
a number of men, from. Philadelphia.
They have many complaints sto make.
The camp is infested with fieas and
vermin. Some of the men showed me
their bodies covered with marks.
While they are within fifty feet of
good bathing beach the engineers can
not compel them to battle, and their
condition is a menace to those who
do.
Walking Boss Richards is in charge
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

LOT the men. A young fellow arrived
at this camp and refused to go to
work. Richards shipped him back to
Miami free Of charge after the man
! had tried to get up a strike and caus-
ed disturbance. Jim Carroll, Joe
RoUndtree, both of Tacony and Mike
Kenney, of 1868 North Twelfth street,
work in the mess tent They posed
for a picture for The Inquirer. When
asked if the men got enough to eat
said: Some Of these men get more
and better grub down here than they
ever had around Philadelphia. The
better class Of men here try to keep
( clear of them. ALI the kicking comes
from them; they are no good"
William Scott, of 2142 Carpenter
street, leaves camp for home today.
He denied that he has been mistreat-
ed. Some time ago Joe Carroll, of
Philadelphia, was engaged in blasting.
A dynamite cartridge exploded and in
jured him severely. He was removed
to the hospital at Miami and is now
back at work. He said the company
has treated him squarely.
1 received word that Mr.. B. A, Wal
den, assistant general foreman Of con-
struction work, was at the next camp,
So l boarded the boat The run was
made quickly and we reached No. 9,
on Indian Key, after dark. The men
were done work for the day
There are about 220 men in this
camp. Thirty odd hail from Philadel-
phia. When told them the Philas
delpnia Inquirer had sent me to ascer-
tain if any one of them was being
forcibly detained, i'll fed or abused by
armed guards, they answered as a
whole, saying they could leave at any
time but they did not think it just
that the company should charge them
81 so to go to Miami on one of their
own boats. They added, since fore
man named Good had been discharg-
ed and Mr.. J. G. Frost, the resident
engineer, had taken charge they had
been treated white" The food, they
said, was the principal thing they
found fault with.
Never Saved Money.
The question of food supply / inves-
tfgated in all the camps and found
about the same conditions and supply
everywhere. Some of the men com
ing here should never have come, as
they were unfit for hard work. The
majority of them had been in camp
nine weeks and had only saved
enough money to get back home.
Gambling among themselves is one,
of the evils. While whiskey is rigidlyI
kept out of the camps, boats from
Miami and Key West land on the
islands and keys at night and sell
poor whiskey to the men, who pay
as high as So quart for it.
The pay roll showed S14 to be the
average net amount received by each
laboreT monthly.
The transportation charge Of $3.50
from Philadelphia is deducted grad
ually from the pay, so a man has to
work over three months to cover the
cost of transportation both ways if
he intends to- quit. Many in this lot
only came down to get out Of the
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

ca on every applicant, engaging only
the best The sick, weak and hobo
class which amounted to forty per
cent Of the applicants were refused.
Every man accepted was given a card
sOatlng the amount Of wages he was
10 receive, what his board would cost
II we fed him, and the amount of
transportation, $1,000, which we ad-
Vanced him to reach our line at Jack
sonVille. Mr.. TRAY also told the ap-
plicant the nature of the work. The
applicant was also tod that on our
line he would be transported free to
the camps; that the amount advanced
would be taken out Of his wages a lit
tie at a time so as not 10 make it a
hardship at the start.
If the applicant did not wish to eat
In the mess tent he could board him.
self out of the cOmmissary. A large
percentage signed these contract
cards and sold them to some Of the
undesirable forty per cent that we
turned down. Men who were look
ing for anything but work and want
ed free ride into. a warm climate for
the winter. When they were aboard
the train our Mr.. Cotton, Mr.. TRAYS
assistant, went through the cars and
put on about ten per cent Of these.
Twenty From Philadelphia.
One train load of two hundred ar
rived at our dock here, where a steam
er was in waiting to transport them
TO the camps. There were about twen-
ty from Philadelphia in this party.
The foreman in charge told them to 20
aboard. All but ten Of the men, and
they were from Philadelphia, refused.
One hundred and ninety would not
bulge. He could not compel them to
take the boat, so left with the ten,
who are now at the camps.
We had brought them down and
they refused TO go to the works. Few.
If any, of them had more than the
clothes each was wearing. The city
authorities Of Miami told those who
stayed behind they would have to
work or leave town Many went to
work for the water company. They
had to be in trenches laying sewer
pipes, much Of the time standing In
water, which made it much harder
work than any we ask our men to do.
''On the KEYS we employ negro la
hnr Ia El1-4he rightsnf way where the
men build the grade. They have to
clear the brush and work in water.
-Yeu-wiii not find white man in our
employ, outside Of the anchor men
on The dTedges, who has to wet his
feet The anchor men are engaged
for this work alone and get $35 a
month and their board. Out of $50
miles Of work. only IL miles is in
swampy ground. This work is done
by dredges that dig their own channel
and pile the soil on the line of the
grade. When the water is all out
gangs of men level on the top for the
track to rest on"
of for the Camps.
As Mr.. Meredith concluded one of
his assistants announced that the boat
was ready, so I left him. Upon arriv-
ing at the dock the cabin power boat
Enterprise, with a crew Of four men,
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

cold weather, and find they can't get
back without working one or two
months more.
At this camp Andrew H. Miller, OF
2127 Fourth street; William Kelley
of 2515 Christian street; ]. A. Muir
ply, of 2642 Catherine street; John
Moore, of Abb Tower street, all Of
Philadelphia, have worked ten weeks.
They have paid back to the company
their transportation money, $3.50,
but not one of them has over s. saved
to return home on.
The statement that the mayor of
Miami was the paymaster Of the Flori-
da East Coast Railroad, and that the
sheriff was a relative of Mr.. Flagler's,
1 found to be absolutely false. The
mayor Of Miami, John Sewall, prOmi-
nent merchant and member Of the
board of county commissioners, is a
wealthy man and has no connection
with the F. E. c. Railroad. The sher-
if, Mr. Frohock, is no relative OF Mr..
Flagler, but says he would not object
to being his brother.
None Forcibly Detained.
Through the whole investigation 1
have been unable to learn Of one in
stance where a man is forcibly detain-
ed, worked under an armed guard, ex-
cept in the case of Walking Boss Good
of Camp 9, on Indian Key, who was
discharged for going armed and threat
ening with a gun the men who would
not work. The food supplied is about
the average construction camp grub"
Plenty Of it and clean. 1 found those
doing the most kicking had never
worked in a construction camp before.
I.aborers who worked on other roads
say it's no better or worse than they
got on other jobs. was in Camp No.
8 on Windley's Island, when the men
were at dinner. The meal consisted
of full plate Of lima beans and pork,
Irish potatoes, bread and coffee and
apple sauce. Each man is helped as
often as he desires. From one to
three times a week fresh meat is serv-
ed three times a day. This is when
the supply boats arrive. At other
meals sausage, tripe, cabbage, por-
ridge, etc, is served. When man Is
i'll he is sent, free Of charge to the
hospital at Miami If unfit for work
when discharged from the hospital he
is sent home by the company at their
expense.
in the camps if a man is not sick
and won't work, he gets nothing to-
eat without he has the money to pay
for it, which is rare. If he quits and
wishes to leave after a few weeks
work, he has to pay S1.5O to get to-
Miami on the company's boat. If hel
has no money and still persists in
loafng. he is sent out Of camp free.
Upon his arrival at Miami he has toi
work, or the city authorities will take
him up as a vagrant. He will have
to work on the streets, or II he gets
drunk and creates trouble, he finds
himself in the chain gang, which is
now working at Snake Creek, tenl
miles from Miami This is where
most of the armed guard talk comes
from.
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01
- ~ ~ ~
- - - ~

INN receiving directions from the
philadelphia Inquirer 10 make a thor
.-syb Investigation OF conditions in
- -silroad camps Of the Florida
-. Coast Railroad, I went TO Miami.
r, fuUv understand the magnitude of
tbetssk one has put 10 look at a map
~ Florida. Extending from CarS
rloridg in a southwesterly curve of
one hundred and fifty miles is a chain
"a islands, or keys, to Key West The
F7l7rida East Coast Railroad Company
g constructing an extension Of the
line starting at Homestead, % miles Of
Miami 70 Key West, a distance Of 80
miles From Homestead the road bel
IS being constructed through swampy
Ground for about seventeen miles.
Huge dredges, digging their own ca
nal. dump the sand on an embank-
ment, thus forming the roadbed.
From KEY LARGO the line is built on the
tevs and on concrete foundations to
Kew West Between these two points
here are twelve construction camps,
OCCUPIED by about three thousand
men. Seven hundred and fifty Of
these are negroes, and work in differ
ent parts Of camps from the white
men. The only communication with
the camps at this time is by the sup
plv boats which 60 to them 70 deliver
provisions and water. They are cut
of from civilization even more so than
q mining camp in the Black Hills Of
Dakota fifty years ago.
Commissioner Gladly Received,
On nv arrival at Miami I called on
Mr.. ]. c. Meredith, construction engi-
neer Of the work. When informed Of
nv mission he expressed a willing
ness 10 help me in every way to make
8 thorough examination Of all the
camps and dredging outfits.
We, have been wishing that some
reliable paper like the Philadelphia
Inquirer would send a representative
b investigate charges that have Ap-
peared from time 70 time in the north
err papers about our mistTeatment Of
the lab0rers on the work" said Mr.
Meredith. L want to give you a let
ter 70 every man in authority under
ne 10 assist you in your investigation.
II You will permit me, will place q
special boat and crew at your com
mand, with Instructions TO aid you in
every way On your visit to the camps
We are doing this for the Inquirer be-
cause we wish that journal 70 publish
the exact conditions"
I accepted Mr.. Meredith's offer Of
the boat and letters, receiving the
right 10 describe without fear or favor
anything might see on my trip. He
gave orders for the boat to be made
ready at once. While waiting l
showed him copies Of the Inquirer Of
March IL and u, containing stories
given out by the men who had return
ed home.
After reading them he said: "Out
Of $500 men We started here from
New York, Philadelphia and other
cities, not over 5000 reached us.
How Men Were Selected.
AT the booking Offices in New York
snd Philade'Dllia- We had ono Of our
best men, Mr.. E. J. TRAY. He pass
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01
~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~
Troubles AZ Miami

Troubles at Miami.
The authorities at Miami have their
hands full every time the pay boar
makes trip to the camps. As soon
as some Of the men receive their
months pay they take the first boat
for Miami. Liquor Is not allowed IN
the camp, and many a thirst OF a
months duration is quenched IN tha
one night Out Of forty men arrested
one might thirty-nine pleaded guilty.
and as they had spent all Of their
money and could not pay the fine,
they were put to work on the streets
and water works.
Hospital for Free Treatment.
AT Miami the Florida East Coast
Railroad Company has a hospital
where all the men engaged on the
construction work receive free treat.
ment in case Of sickness. DR.. ]. NJ
Jackson, Jr., prominent physician OF
Miami, is in charge. DR.. J. A. Helt.
hnger, the house SURGEON, makes fire.
quent visits to all camps, treating
minor cases. When he finds a case
thai requires hospital treatment the
Inan is at once removed by boat to
Miami. From the time the laborer
leaves camp until he is DISCHARGED
from the hospital cured the entire az
pense is borne by the company. Il
made a complete tour OF the hospital
and talked to each Of the thfrty-tpo
inmates, among them John Cullen. OF
5O7 South TeTney street He was re.
moved from Camp 50 last January
with rheumatism. He will be dis.
charged, cured, this week. He told
me he had no complaint to make and
was going back to work at Camp 81
as soon as the doctor would let him.
He said he had never seen a man III
treated or any of the walking bosses
carry gun. DR.. Jackson said that
a number Of men were treaeed at the
hospital and sent back home who had
never done a days work on the rail.
road. Some were taken on the train
at Miami sick and should not have left
the north. One is still in the hospi.
tai He has heart disease. He was
removed from the train on his arrival
last December to the hospital. Every.
thing has been done to save his life.
but his case is hopeless.
On the keys from Miami to Kew
West are more representatives Of two
extremes than win be found IN any out
OF the way part Of the country. The
mllhOnafres sail In and out OF the
keys in quest of the game tarpon
while on shore the laborer works out
the transportation the railroad com.
pany furnished him from the north. A
prominent engineer at Miami who has
visited both Panama and Florida
camps In the past month daclaras thar
the camps on the keys compared with
Panama are paradise. The temper
ature all the winter ranged from 56
degrees to So degrees on the keys.
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

80 ural History adds
ryiTtsS---,sssz greatly to that insti-
49,. llsssI1 tution's pre-eminence
as a collector Of these
ponderous natural wonders. 1t was al
ready IN possession OF the great Peary
md, the largest metecric mass ever
known 10 mankind, and this latest ad-
clifton makes the museum the owner Of
Two Of the three largest meteorites in the
world the third being in Mexico. The
scientific value OF these curiosities is be-
yono compute. The intrinsic value is,
OF course, a matter OF speculation, but
some notion Of its reality may be OBJ
famed from the fact that the museum
authorities paid $4,000 for the Will
annette meteorite, a transaction made
possible by the generosity Of Mrs.
William E. Dodge OF New York.
mis- willamette meteOrite has made
good deal OF stir in the world. It was
round IN 1902 by a prOspector named
asghes' who was one day puttering
eifnlessly in forest near the little
oregon village Of willamette and
N-4nceo TO strike his hammer against
% unfamiliar object Just below the sur
tace. he jumped to the conclusion at
VICE that he had discovered a bed OF
~, ana proceeded to dig around il.
"Hen ne had excavated far enough to
Nnai was a detached mass, he
Up his mind that he would re-
.ts-. Il TO his own p@emises, about
A.F'y miles distant.
-, &c ulied IN his excavation, care
s4s destroying all evidence Of recent
-ts With a coating Of forest litter.
- ne returned home, confided his
- 70 MS young son and announced
r-s 'll'ehtioa OF securing the treasure.
,,- ooy entered enthusiastically into
-, Seheine and promised 10 help all he
'o' A night or two later the pair
OUT IN on ordinary farm wagon
"A hy team OF understood mules.
, r.o1 1hey dnally accomplished their
,-s- tsklng--a man and q boy and an
,-..'ary pair OF farm nules-is stin q
s'e1E How they uncovered this
s ton mass and loaded IT on
- --.l.9n wagon and transported Il thir-
ea without discovery is q puzzle
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

startling Z eories. some of them more
theological than legal. Finally the
court appointed a receiver, who took
charge Of the curiosity until its prop
er status could be defined, and there
was lull IN the proceedings.
During this period OF legal tnSction
the chief of the mineral division OF the
geological survey borrowed the meteor
ite and put it on exhibition at the Clark
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-01

known to the scientific world was the
uncertainty connected with the owner
ship OF the great mass. There was alb
solutely no opportunity to make an
actual beginning looking toward ulti-
mate proprietorship.
. Atlast. however, after the representa-
tives of the curators Of foreign museums
had become Disguised with the legal
tangle and had Withdrawn from the