The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-22

must u0Cc5Ldp1o AduOA ACAAS Al IAo
world"
This miner, Alonzo Walters, declar-
es, 1.-THE wages that are being paid,
would, in all probability, cause
Cinnamon to turn away in disgust.
The mines are death traps in every
sense Of the word; the camps are so
unspeakably filthy and unsanitary
that typhoid is quite commonly rag
ing epidemic thruout the entire sec
ton. The employees are subjected at
all. times to the most slavish and
humiliating conditions"
The niece Of coal miner writes
the DAILY WORKER the following
from the Blue Grass Coal camp, In this
territory, Three weeks ago l came
here to keep house for my uncle. The
miners here live in make-believe hous-
es. Hovels is the better word to de.
scribe them. Behind the houses, only
ten feet away, runs filthy little
stream Of water which is breeding
place for all manner OF disease germs.
The wells where the workers from the
entire camp get their drinking water,
is in a swampy hog wallow. Here one
gets the stencil and germs from all
the outbuildings, enough to kill a
whole city full Of people.
"The miners here are treated brutal
| ly by the coal company officials. The
other day a pale faced little woman
went to the coal company and asked
for a two-dollar script to come out Of
her husbands pay. They gave her a
one-dollar script. But / must have
two dollars she pleaded. I must
have bread and potatoes for my fam
lily But they refused her the script
point blank.
my uncle has worked for this com.
pany twelve years. This year his
wife was taken seriously Ill. The doc
tor told her she must undergo an oper-
alton If her life was to be saved. We
had no money. Finally my uncle went
to the company and asked for two
hundred dollars. The coal company
officials fatty refused and told my
uncle to get out Of the Office"
Albert Walters, brother of Alonzo
Walters, writes from Russell, KY, IT
am now working here in the G. & o.
railroad shops. hadn't drawn pay
day for two months at the Lothair
mine, owned by the Algoma Block
Coal Co. couldn't make enough to
live on. Nobody can live working in
the hut ~
scabs. The company is now trying to
scare the men into another wage cut
by shutting down for a few days.
When quit had thirty cents coming
to me. Winchester, the general mine
foreman asked, why are you quit.
ting? l said, Well, you see, / have
wife and baby to work for, and l
must work for them instead of the
coal company
Speaking of the conditions in the
Algoma Coal company's camp at Lo-
THAR, Walters said, 1.-THE files of the
Hazard, KY, Herald show a shock
ing number of fatalities that are con.
stantly occurring as a result of mine
accidents which are easily avoidabIe
The outhouses have been built SO near
the dwelling houses of the miners,
and are allowed to remain in such
filthy condition, that in hot weather
the odor coming from them is sitting
to the entire camp. The wells which
furnish water to the miners families
are located in the midst of all that
| filth"
In the entire eastern Kentucky coal
fields these unsanitary conditions pre-
vail The miners get their drinking
and cooking water from wells dug in
various parts of the camps, there be-
ing usually two or three such wells
in the entire camp. Often these wells
are located in close proximity with all
the filth which abounds so profuseIy
around them. One such well, at Al
lais, Kentucky, was dug within thir-
ty feet Of barn where the company
mules and horses are kept.
Each camp is supplied with coal
company physician, who receives a
regular salary from the company
This salary, however, is extracted from
the miners, each Of whom is forced
to pay a percentage of his pay to the
support Of the physician. In addition,
the doctor charges extra for childbirth
cases and diseases. The doctors do
not dare to complain about the unsani-
tary conditions, as they would imme-
diately lose their Jobs.
In the next article, we will show
how the coal operators control every
phase Of the lives Of the workers, in
GLIDING their political activity, and
their living conditions as well as their
wages. When a miner gives the least
trouble, he is shot down by an "offi-
Ger Of the law" who works hand in