The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1919-09-10
MINERS CLUBHOUSE
OPENED At EcHols
Louisville Gas & Electric Co.
Erects Place For ALI Local
Gatherings

Louisville Gas e Electric Company,
and minstrel troupe made up of
employees of the company, were
guests of miners employed by the
company at its mine at Echols, in
Ohio county, at the opening of the
community house erected for use of
the miners. The mine at Echols
furnishes coal for operation of the
company's power plant in Louis
vile.
After speaking of the purpose of
the operation of the mine and the
work of the men i'm charge, Mr..
Mcdonald said:
4 wish every one of you miners
could carry in your thoughts the
picture of $4,000 homes brightly
lighted and full of comfortable
families. All of them would be
dark if coal for the boilers should
fail to come.
Our company has built this
community house at time when
nearly everything was hard to get.
We have built it because we want
to keep at Echols the very kind of
people who are here now. We
want to provide a place where men
can gather in peace and comfort !;
where church services can be held !;
where Sunday-school can be taught !;
where dances and lodge meetings
and all the various things that
bring people into closer contact
with each other can take place.
"If, for any reason, the work of
mining coal is delayed or made di-
fiicult. l want you to know that
the officers of the company have 4
keen interest in correcting every
fault as soon as possible.
''fhis is big work-too big TO
be interfered with by anything
trifiing III fact. man had better
set fire to dozen houses in a city
rather than leave that city in dark
ness. Before the darkness had
passed away many houses might
have fires set to them and many
lives night be taken by the human
vermin that come out of their holes
in the darkness.
II do not intend to talk to you
as farmers, or as coal miners, or as
Democrats, or as Republicans. | am
going to talk to you about some
thing that is more important to
each of you than your trade, your
property or your politics. l am 60
ing to talk to you as American citi
zens.
America to day is the most
prosperous of all the countries or
earth. For many years America
has been the freest country of earth
1t is easy to see why America il
prosperous. She produces in great
abundance all those things that the
rest of the world is anxious to Blu!
wheat and meat and coal and iror
and hunderd other things.
But why is America free? 1t il
because more than century age
our forefathers fought for thei1
freedom and established it on thu
sure foundation of self-governmen
equal rights to all and exclusive
privileges to none. 1t was grea
experiment. H~d
81 often think that the Ameri
can people have been like children
raised in a comfortable home. The!
think that food and clothes ant
warmth and shelter come as mat
ters Of course. and they forget thu
constant effort of the father ant
the mother who have provided thes'
, things.
"Our people have felt that free
dom and safety and order are mat
, tiers of course. and they have hard
, ly realized that it is our great Gov
eminent that has provided and pre-
served these things for them
1--WE must not think that becaus'
our Government has been establish
ed and has stood for $50 years, be
cause it has weathered foreign wa
and civil war. that it need no ear
and. no attention from its citizens
Foreign enemies that free govern
ments have TO contend with.
always there are people who ar
sheltered and protected by the Gov
/ eminent, but who think that the
| see some advantage in avoiding
t some part of its responsibility or /
, resisting some part OF its control
/ free and prosperous country. Tina
There is only one basis for
basis is justice for all, equal right
for all. exclusive privileges to none