Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-28
Z. M. G. A. AND SALOONS
THE CONFLICT IN THE COAL MIN
ING REGIONS.
By a Y. NJ. c. A. Man.

By Y. NJ C. A. Man
The saloons and the Young Mems c,bri.-
tan Association in the PENNSYLVANIA coal
mining towns are bidding night and day
ior the attention and patronage of tho
strlking miners. There are twenty-five as
sociations in the bituminous districts ana
as many more in the anthracite but there
are score of saloons to every association.
In the bituminous region there are five hum
dren coal companies In twenty-five coun-
ties. employing 10000 men The saloon
mas mad free field up to within four years
When the Young Mems Christian assocIs-
tons entered these districts and the latter
now have over 5000 members These asso-
cations have reading rooms Iibrar fes atm
ietios from base ball. wrestling and stunts
out-oI-ooOrs by day, to bowling alleys
eymnasiums and baths inside at might.
with billiard and pool tables, soft drinks.
stag smokers and fun educational classes
rehgious meetings and Bible classes The
i. NJ y. A. mas found religion as really
demanded by men as entertainment They
are holdlng the interest OF thousands OF
men VINO are out of the mines with moth
ing to do until the strike is settled
Most Of the coal miners are foreigners
and they are in earnest to learn the Eng
lsh language and American ways Com
missions often as high as 80 per cent are
extorted from miners not able to speak
tngalsh and not accustomed to exchange
by agencies forwarding money and trans
acting financial business Demaeogues
sway the crowds The professional agfta-
tor VINO is anti-everything that is, from the
government to religion, harangues and
leads foreign miners in groups The few
small churches in these rough towns can
attract but a small per cent Of shen. The
Young Mems Christian Assocfauen, with
its attractions for leisure hours and help
in evening studies from the simplest Eng
lish branches and American citizenship
studies to technical training for mine en-
xieisaf nd fs,
sports and baths. is becoming a formidable
rival to the saloon. In many cases the Y
NJ C. A. has the only available bath tub in
town. The grocer, the butcher and the
mine operators are with the associations.
The full mining course taught by the as
sociations embraces geometry and trig-
ohometry, mine ventilation, surveying and
mapping, economic geology of coal shafts
slopes and drifts, methods of working
mines, steam and steam engines hydro-ne-
chanics. dynamos and motors, electric ma
chlnery' metaliurgy and assaying, pros
pecting, etc. Some members walk from
three TO six miles after working all day In
the mines to attend the evening classes
Inc mining companies have put I'D many
buildings, but the men conduct the asso-
Citations Some of these buildings are but
mere shacks, others are handsome edifices
In Windber the building cost $4,000.
Beer Is the curse of the coal regions. A
brewers syndicate operates what Is called
The Beer Club System" where a few
miners club together, secure a charter, rent
an old shack of a shanty or any available
room for social club where they meet
nights and Sundays TO drink and gamble
In some cases the brewers have furnished
the lot where the buildings are erected or
help to buy cheap building and then the
club VIII buy the beer at wholesale rates
This system is in operation in Wales where
the drinking clubs now own handsome
houses.
On Sunday, April I. a few men in a little
mining town formed a beer party They
drank several kegs OF beer. As a reEult a
fight began in which one man was killed
and four badly wounded; one of them, q
murderer, is fugitive I'm the woods an
other is I'm the Greenburg jail.
The Young Mems Christian Association
state committee of Pennsylvania Is extend
ing these associations throughout the en-
tire coal mining region OF the state rap
idly as 1t can find men and means.