Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-01


many Presidents, from Cleveland to
Coolidge. end an adviser and confidant
of cabinet officers. At the counsel table
in many great industrial disputes, no
tably the great anthracite coal strikes
of 1900 and 1902, she was a familiar
figure. Even by the leaders of capital,
whom she fought in two-fiSted fashion
she was respected for her sincerity of
purpose and as one good fighter always
respects another.
The details of Mother" Jones' early
life are not very fully known, except
that she was the daughter of an Irish
agitator and from young womanhood
her inspiration had been to improve
the working conditions of working men
and women. She was born in Canada
about 1882. and when an infant was
taken to Ireland by her parents, who
returned to Toronto when she was 7
years old. Her father was Richard
Harris, an Irish agitator and rail work.
er. Growing up in this environment, it
is not surprising that the young woman
! threw herself heart and soul to fight in
behalf of what she deemed the masses
of the oppressed. 1t was the spirit of
her Irish ancestry urging her on.
Child labor in the South enlisted her
FIRST efforts as a crusader. AS a young
woman she had worked in the cotton
mills.
Four Children Die.
| Once she abducted" helpless fam
| lily and three daughters to free them
from the bondage of company store
| to which they were indebted. While
living in the South she was married.
Four children were born to her, all Of
whom, together with her husband, died
during an epidemic of yellow fever.
Mother Jones was the last OF her
family about whom anything is known.
Her last relative, a brother, promi-
nent Catholic priest and educator i'll
Canada, died March 5, 1923. He was
Father Harris and for many years had
been dean of one of the departments of
the University of Toronto from which
he had received the honorary degree
of:doctor of letters. The golden jubilee
of his priesthood was observed in 1920
at st. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto.
All family ties having been cut Mrs.
Jones then began to devote her entire
life to the labor movement. She be-
gan to organize women's auxiliaries to
labor unions and later affiliated with
the United Mine Workers of America,
serving for years as one Of its organ
izers.
It was with this labor organization
that Mother" Jones earned for her
self the reputation of being national
! figure. Its members idolized her for
her fearless advocacy of their cause
In controversies throughout the West
and East.
In recent years, however, It was said
she had been a free lance" going
where she pleased and doing what she
pleased to further the cause of the
miners. Her activities have taken her
to Montana, West Virginia, the east
ern Pennsylvania coal fields, southern
| Colorado, Tennessee and other States.
Wherever there was industrial trouble
involving the welfare of women and
children, Mother" Jones endeavored to
| be there.
She went from Ell Paso to Trinidad,
Colo, in 1914, at the time of the coal
strike in that region, and upon her
arrival was seized by militiamen and
| deported to Denver as an "agitator."
Recognized No Master.
Mother" Jones had all the appear
| ances of her age, as was said, but her
frail body was .as hardened to the
rigors of outdoor life as a veteran
campaigner. Although she talked with
Presidents and high officials Of the
Government, she never lost the COM
mon touch that endeared her to the
boys" for whom she labored and even
| fought. Congressional committees of
investigation heard and felt the lash
of her bitter tongue, and not even star
chamber councils in the White House
could keep the plain-spoken woman
from freely uttering what was at her
tongues end. She recognized no
master" high or low.
| When not at the scene of some
strike or mixing with the men in the
field, Mother" Jones often turned her
attention to securing beneficial labor
| legislation. During the years spent in
bloody" Logan and Kanawha Coun-
| ties, w. Va, she did much effective
work in this connection. Her efforts
in West Virginia resulted in State
law giving the miners a pay check
semi-monthly, better living conditions.
better hours and general improve
ment in the standard Of living among
the miners in the little-organized
State. During her spectacular career
in the State Mother" Jones was called
to Washington many times to testify
before committees in Congress.
One of her most dramatic acts in
West Virginia was the leading OF a
great delegation of miners to the State
capital in Charleston, where she adj
Statehouse. Pitched battles between
the miners and armed deputies and
detectives hired by mine owners fire.
quently were waged in the mountain
Gus districts in West Virginia and on
more than one occasion, as in Colorado
and elsewhere, Mother" Jones took an
active part.
Davis Sought Her Advice.
Her friendship with Secretary Of
| Labor Davis, who at one time worked
as a puddler In the steel mills, was
one of many years standing. He
turned to her for counsel during the
troublesome days of 1922, when 100000
hard coal miners went out on strike
and industry in New England particu-
larly was almost paralyzed.
| 1t was surprising to many that
Mother" Jones. with all her battling
In behalf of laboring men and women.
should not have espoused the cause OF
| woman suffrage. Instead, those who
knew her we'll said she had q distinct
aversion for votes for women" She
believed women were out of place IN
/ political work, declaring that 1t had
been in part their sad neglect Of moth
erhood which had filled reform schools
and which keeps the juvenile courts
busy" Her chief contention was that
IF the industrial problem were solved
men would earn enough SO that women
could remain at home and attend to
their duties"
BURIAL ASKED BESIDE MINERS.
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