The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-08-31
Steel TRUST VICTIM !.
TELLS GRAPHIC STORY
He Was Hired in New York to
Work on a Railroad in
Duluth.
Candid Recital by Himself of His
Trials, sufferings and Pri-
vations.

sian, and Hngutst Of extraordinary
ability, who was shipped from New
York by agents Of the Steel Trust to
act as a strikebreaker at Hibbing, has
| had the experience of hiring out as q
strikebreaker, shipped to Duluth in
closed cars guarded by detectives,
marched to the prison camp Of the
strikebreakers surrounded by armed
guards, discovering that a strike ex-
listed he refused to work, and was
cast on his own resources, 1000 miles
from a living friend and without a
penny in his pocket.
He tells the story In his own writ
ing to the readers Of the Labor World.
It requires no comment from us, for
it speaks for itself It is as follows:
shall state the facts with the ut
most brevity, and without any COM
ments whatever of my own, that the
public may be enabled to Judge i'm
partially and unbiased, and reach q
conclusion respecting the miners strike
conditions that will be absolutely
true.
A Native Of Russia. :.
am native Of Russia, and have
been in the United States Is months,
and have taken out my first citizen
papers. By nature I take kindly to
acquiring languages, and am able to
speak duently in Russian, German,
French, Greek, italian, Polish, Syrian
and slavish. can, understand. and
make myself readily understood, in
SONS other languages, including Eng
lish. I experience no difficulty with
English construction, but rely wholly
upon the dictionary in the matter of
: spelling many Of ia words. OF course
speak it with what you people call
| foreign accent. Lest I weary the
| reader with too long a dissertation
about myself let me say, briefly, that
| was we'll brought up, my parents
were educated, intelligent, and law
abiding, which latter quality I have
always observed and practiced to the
letter.
| With my foreign accent and appear
ance it was difficult for me, in this
country, to secure a position, such as
my educational qualifications would
justify me in seeking, and consequent
ly I adapted myself to the situation,
| and worked as a common laborer
until something better would be avail
able. Allured by the gilded stories of
opportunities, about two weeks ago
engaged myself at 1872 Third street,
New York, with one ]. Koffler, an en-
ployment agent, to work on railroad
in Duluth. Mimi, at 81 per day.
was assured that work was abundant,
conditions desirable. and everything
was pictured In glowing colors.
| Armed Guards on Train.
| In company, with probably 100 men
or more, I was started by rail, from
New York for my Duluth destination.
We discovered after starting that we
were in charge Of armed guards as If
we were criminals, and many Of our
crowd expressed alarm at the ap-
parent mystery Of the situation. The
problem appeared to battle, and no
satisfactory reply could he elected
from any of the guards who presumed
to exercise authority over us. The
food furnished US was so outrageous
in quantity and quality, that it's con-
sumption was due more to insatiate
hunger than to any relish for stuff
that was on the eve Of corruption
before 1t reached our hands
At length we reached Superior, and
the coaches containing us were sepa-
rated from the Chicago train, and
coupled to an engine to take US to
our destination. The mysterious &C
tons Of our guards and the general
aspects Of the whole affair, made US
fearful and suspicious, and we were
| glad to reach our destination, Duluth.
The guards, however, refused to let us
out on reaching Duluth,-locked the
doors Of the coaches, and threatened
serious harm to anyone not yielding
implicit obedience. Many Of our
crowd became frantic with fear
Those unable to understand English,
and who remembered the Siberian
methods Of the czar's dominion, were
almost certain that we were all lured
If not to destruction, at least, to some
species of slavery that was no better.
Women Sound the Alarm.
On stopping at the first town after
leaving Duluth, which I now know to
be Proctor, women and children hurled
all manner of epithets at our coaches,
calling us scabs, strikebreakers, etc.
For the first time the true UNDER
l
| dawn upon our minds. Every man
looked at his card and every card
declared there was no strike. We
still thought it was railroad work we
were going to.
It was Sunday morning when we
reached Hibbing. But lest forget it.,
let me relate, that the guards having
discovered that spoke English We'll,
and that the majority Of my COM
rades did not speak it at all, I was
brought into the presence Of a man on
the car, who said he, was superintend-
ent, and he said he would pay me 81
a day instead OF 81, III would assist
in keeping my comrades III line. Il
inquired If there was a strike. and he
said there VI had been one inauguarted
by the Western Federation Of Miners,
some weeks ago, but that It had been
called of. I declined his offer, and
said that exercised no control over
my comrades, that I was only ac-
quainted with very few of them, and
| that sOnlv since we left New York