The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-01-12

qulC-cldlm ueeu, 10 MAKE WHICH
binding | gave him the legally re-
quired sum Of. one dollar. l used
to pass this claim with the idea of
working it some time, but having
come into possession of it so cheaply,
I ignored its possible value. Some
years later / worked in it as
miner, after Doctor Hanson of Win
nemucca had relocated it, organized
a company and erected quartz
mill. / had neglected the assessment
work and my right had long before
expired. 1t came into, the possession
of the Caledonia Mining and Mill
ing Company. When the first lot
of ore was run through the mill
every one was excited as to what
the returns were going to be. We
had heard different reports as to
how the assays were running and
that some nuggets had been caught
in the battery or ore-crusher. But
we never knew the returns, as
nephew of the doctor ran away with
the entire output, and as far as l
knew was never caught. After this
episode there was an air of dis
enlargement and pessimism about
the mine. The men did not know
whether they were going to get
their pay or not, and shortly after
ward l quit.
Coming down the trail from the
mine one day, John Kane and I We're
skylarking and I jumped on his
back. He fell and broke his leg.
The other men helped carry him
down to the bunk-house; l started
off to Rebel Greek to get team and
spring wagon to take John to the
hospital at Fort McDermitt. We put
mattress in the wagon, got John in
and started on the thirty-mile drive
to the surgeon. 1t must have been
painful trip for him, but the
surgeon did a good job and six
weeks later John was back at work.
That is, he was working in the assay
office hobbling about on crutch.
Men situated as we were some
times form close friendships. This
was true of Pat Reynolds and my
self. Pat was the oldest man on
the job, tall, raw-boned, with red
chin whisker, bushy eyebrows and a
strawberry mark on the outer cor
ner of his left eye 1t was this old
Irishman who gave me my first les
sons in unionism. Pat was mem
Der of the Knights of Labor, and
some of the things he told me about
this organization l could not well
understand at the time. | had never
heard of the need of workingmen or
ganizing for mutual protection. Il
that part of the country there did
not seem to be a wide division be-
tween the boss and the men. The
old man who was the boss slept in
the same room and ate at the same
table and appeared the same as the
rest of the men. But Pat explained
that he was not the real boss; that
none of us knew the owner of the
mine. Mentioning the large ranches
in the vicinity, he said, "The owners
live in California, while the men
| who do all the work and make the
ranches and mines of value are here
in Nevada" He told me about the
unions he had belonged to, the
miners union in Bodie. California,
and the Virginia City Miners Union
in Nevada, organized in 1867, the
first miners union in America.
These two unions were among the
first that formed the Western Fede-
ration of Miners. 1t was some time
before I got the full significance Of
remark that he made, that if the
working class was to be enamel
pated, the workers themselves must
accomplish it. Early in May, 1886,
this thought was driven more deeply
into my mind by reading in the
newspapers the details of the Hay
market Riot, and later the speeches
that were made by the men who
were put to trial. The facts and
details l talked over every day with
Pat Reynolds. I was trying to
fathom in my own mind the reason
for the explosion. Were the strik-
ers responsible for it? Was it the
men who were their spokesman?
Why were the policemen in Hay
market Square? Who threw the
bomb? 1t was not Albert Parsons
or any one that he knew; if it had
been, why did Albert Parsons walk
into court and surrender himself?
Who were those who were so anxious
to hang these men they called an
archists? We're they of the same
capitalist class that Pat Reynolds
was always talking to me about?
The last words of August Spies
kept running through my mind:
"There will come a time when our
silence will be more powerful than
the voices you are strangling today"
1t was turning point in my life.
l told Pat that I would like to
join the Knights of Labor. From
this time, although there was never
an opportunity to join, l was a
member in the making.
In the ne1t iastaIment Haywood
aorites of avorking IN q Utah lead
mine; dangers faced by miners;