New-York tribune., 1918-06-16

links them together as one, and to
all practical intents each is no more
than an active suburb of the other.
The population Of the villages is
composed almost entirely of miners
or of people who make their liveli-
hood from the earnings of miners.
Everybody is prosperous. The COM
mon colliery worker makes from So
to $12 day. But for the saloons
the average citizen would have a
hard time keeping his spending ca
racity even with his earnings. There
are an abundance of saloons. how
ever, and true to local form the dis
trict runs them to suit itself. Sum
days are like any of the other six
drinking days as far as the tri-cities
are concerned.
AS the miners themselves saw.
Madison County is a ard-boiled"
settlement. The term has an elastic
value, but means primarily that the
community is two-fisted enough to
take care of itself. There is the
county, and outside is the rest of the
world. The appearance of Assistant
Attorney General Middlekauf from
Springfield to help prosecute the
Prayer case was almost like foreign
meddling. The people could have
settled the business themselves with
out nearly so much fuss and expense.
And the result would have been the
same. The trial was unnecessary.
the populace said, because everybody
knew in advance that no jury could
Re found to do otherwise than acquit.
Prayer Failed to
Understand Them
The various mining villages are
peaceful as a rule, because they are
law unto themselves. In case of
trouble men who work in remote GAL
lcries far underground have no
chance to appeal to public authori-
ties. Wrongs must be righted by the
individuals, at cnce and on the spot.
The spirit of self-dependency has
grown up with the community. In
failing to understand this Robert
Prayer made his fatal mistake.
1t has never been proved that
Prayer was the traitor the Collins
vile. mob thought it was lynching.
But he was all unnaturalized Ger
man, and the suspicious miners did
not take long to mark him down as
a spy. He knew too much about the
diggings to be harmless novice.
and too little to be accepted as a
full-fedged, bona fide miner.
"Prager spent too much time ask
ing half-wise questions and prowling
around places where he oughtn't
have been," said one Of the Marys-
vile men in discussing the strangers
shortcomings. "He came to me one
day to ask where the main split was
located. The main split is the point
in the galleries where the air current
breaks in two directions. If any
thing happens at that spot in
gassy mine lot of fellows are going
to smother to death before they can
make the cages.
"Now, the idea is that no regular
miner bothers himself one way or
another about the splits. The fans
take care Of the air, and all a guy
needs to do is to shoot down the
coal. If Prayer was a regular he
wouldn't have thought about the
splits, which were none of his bust
ness. If he was just beginner, try
ing to learn the trade, he wouldn't
have known there were such things.
Take him either way, and you can't
account for him. / say he was get
ting ready to start something, and
they did a good job when they put
him OFF the map"
Community Acted
On General Suspicion
1t was on such evidence that
Prayer was lynched. Other stories
CT like character were current
among the miners. Witnesses came
from another state during the mur-
der trial to report disloyal remarks
the man was said to have made be-
fore he appeared in Collinsville. But
previous to the hanging the COM
munity had no definite proof Of its
victims guilt. and acted only ON gen.
eral suspicion.
AS result Of the case States At
torney Streuber has, lost much of a
hard-won popularity in the county.
There were two hundred or more