The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-02-13
SHUT WASHERIES,
. is DEMAND OF
miner PICKETS
District Officials Graft
While Strikers StGrUe
Especial to The Daily Worksrj


SCRANTON, Pa, Feb. 1t.--FolIow-
ing meeting In the borough Of Dun
more over 500 striking anthracite
miners decided to throw picket lines
around the washerIes that are wash
ing in eulm, waste rock and coal from
the dump and preparing it for the
market. At the meeting the strikers
pointed out that these washerIes were
prolonging the strike and taking the
bread out of their mouths and that
the only way to shut them down and
to keep them shut was to picket these
washeries and pull the workers out.
To Picket Washerles.
The pickets gathered the next day
and marched thru Dunmore, Throop
and Scranton visiting the washeries
in these three places and pulling out
the workers.
The pickets first went to the No.
colliery of the Pennsylvania Coal COM
pany where they heard that coal was
being shipped. When they arrived
they found no one at work, so they
continued their march northward over
the snow-covered road to Throop.
Upon arriving at Throop, the miners
marched to the Carlucci colliery. A
half dozen men were at work and
after the miners showed these work
ers that they were prolonging the
strike and were aiding the coal oper-
ators, all of the men quit work and
joined the striking miners.
Labor Faker Seabs.
The miners then marched to the
Macdonald washery at Scranton. At
this washery, run by Steve J. Mac
Donald, a former president OF the
Scranton Labor Union, the miners
were met by policemen armed with
sawed-off shotguns.
" The police superintendent who had
been giving this labor faker police
protection for his scabs, on learning
that the strikers were on their way to
picket this washery, called in all the
trafic cops, the reserves and many
patrolmen, armed them with tear gas
bombs and sawed-off shotguns and
threw them around the washery. When
the miners arrived at the washery
they found an army OF police ready
to attack them on the least excuse.
Don't make any trouble. men,"
threatened Capt. Of Police Harry
Davis
1--WE don't want trouble, but we de-
mand as American citizens the right
to stop non-union men from taking the
bread out of our mouths" declared
one of the miners.
Policeman Attacks Picket.
One of the policemen, seeing this
group of strikers peacefully demand
ing the right to picket, discharged his
sawed-off shotgun at the miners. Due
to the fact that he had drank too much
white mule" his aim was bad and no
one was hurt. The miners demanded
that their committee be allowed to see
Macdonald and have him close the
washery. After much dickering the
request was granted.
Officials Take Graft.
When the miners committee met
Macdonald and asked him why he
kept his washery running he declared
that he and others had paid fancy
prices TO keep their washeries in oper-
alton and that he was not going to
shut down unless the rest shut down.
He declared that the district officials
were getting their graft" from him
and that he had the right to keep his
washery running.
An "lngrate."
Rinaldo Cappellini, district presi-
dent of the union, when confronted
with MacDonald's declaration that the
officials were getting graft to allow
these collieries to operate, refused to
comment on the case outside of call
ing Macdonald an migrate"