The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-10-03
MESAB| RANGE MINERS
HAD TO WEAR MITES
FOLEY TELLS HOW NEW SAM.
TARY MEASURE WAS
ENFORCED.
OR. H. Little in Chicago Herald).

fund of personal experiences, but, be.
/ listen to them sayin' their prayer.
ore, he had to be approached with
great caution. If the listener had pa
thence enough, the movement would
come when Mr.. Foley, his face light.
ing up with animation, would tell a
story. Such moment arrived on one
occasion, and the buzz of converse
ton quieted down as it became ap-
parent that Dave Foley was suddenly
moved to talk. His face lighted ur
as he said:
And have we ever heard of the time
we put the lads in the biggest bunk
house on the range into nightgowns?
There wuz four hundred of the lads
in this big clubhouse. They wuz
mostly Monteniggers an Croastians
an, Maltese, with here and there a
Finn an a Wap. The cumpany had
the idee of lettn' 'em live their own
ways in tn clubhouse, an each divil
had bunk, in which he slept and
shirt an three er four yards of saus-
age an couple O. bottles O. beer an
half cord of black bread an a
bushel of garlic When they turned
i'm fer the night they jest crawled in,
clothes, boots an all, with tn beer an
sausage an the garlic.
But wan day an officer of the cum
pany comes out from Pittsburg, or
one Of them seaport towns in the east,
an he takes one look at the bunk
house, and they carried him out in a
dead faint. We had no pulmotor in
them days, but we gave him all the
fresh air on the Mesabi range, an
burnt rag under the nose of him
an sent all the way to Hibbing for
bottle of O. de cologne out of the
barber shop to sprinkle on his face
when he comes to he goes to the
office an he says few things. an
then the superintendent sends fer me
an he says: Foley he says, otis
new order. The men cannot sleep in
their office clothes any more at all,
an they must be taught that it's I'M
constitutional in the land of the free
an the home of the brave fer to go to
bed with their muddy boots still fast
ened tite on the feet of 'em. An they
must get over the foreign habit of
sleepin' on top of tn groceries, Foley.
| of n ha
kept elsewhere. And Foley says he,
rather shamed face like, I must tell
We, Furthermore, that the order is that
the men from now on and forever
when they retire to their rest each an
every night That's all, Foley
"'An' after I git the heather into
their little white nighties, I says. DO
| listen to them sayin' their prapers
ar thin tuck 'em in bed and kiss 'em
good night?'
"'You can suit yourself as to that
says the superintendent, but get 'em
into their nighties.'
"Twas a fine job that was picked
out fer me. / paraded the divils at
noon an talks to thin with the in
terpreters all jabberin after me that
which I was sayin' every time l stop
ped for breath.
Men says I. 'tis a Christian
country you are in says I, AN We
will become citizens as soon as you
show enough intelligence to put the
ballot that is placed within yer hand
In the ballot box. But no man can
become a citizen of the United States
except he takes his pants an his onion
SCOT an his boots often him at mite
and wears a nightie. You are hereby
ordered to buy nighties an to sleep
in tn same as well. Those of you
that refuse to become Christians can
get yer time from the offs an beat
it off the range
"They yelled blue murder in rs diff
ferent languages an made a break for
the offs for their pay. An thin they
thought it over an an sed they would
stand for the nighties, an / assessed
each man so cints fer a night shirt
I sent polisman to raid all tn towns
on the range an buy four hundred
night shirts. He got 'em, an that
night come bedtime / marched in with
ten of the mimi company police, all
carryin' fine, long clubs fer the pur-
pose Of skiddin' the terriers out of
their clothes an sliding 'em into the
nighties.
"Twas busy night, but finally the
job wuz done an each an every man
was sittin' on the edge Of his boonk
saying horrible things in furrin Ian
guige, but every man Jack Of 'em was
fairly radiant in his cute little nightie.
"You shud have seen 'em. There
wuz about only so he-nighties to be
found in tn stores. an so the man
! sent to buy 'em had filled out the
order with ladies' nightgowns an
dressing jackets that was all frills an
soft laces an blue and pink ribbons
forninst them. All, twas sight OF
a lifetime But week it took before
we could persuade 'em to git into their
nighties without threatenin 'em with
fnr