~~ The
VOLUME IV.
SALISBURY
We welcome
carri
G
yours.
rade Furniture
Come
The Bievest
0 oh Ui
tO.
in
and go when you like.
158 i000
S DELICE
| GREATEST
VEWVDO VOWED
ed by us.
re interested in
wk.
)
this line shown in this county,
ll!
all visitors to view the gigantic stock of High
The freedom of the store is |The Strike as Viewed by “The
we
omerset
SALIS B U RY, K LK LIC K POST OF FIC E,
Don’t buy unless you wish
be glad to show you anything you desire to
see
Loney-Navii
and quote you matchless
or Prices,
’
We also give prompt and skillfull attention
to
UNDERTAKING AND EMBALMING.
Johnson & McecCulloh,
ELK LICK,
PENNA.
Hisher's
s Book Store,
SOMERSET, PA.
WHOLESLAE AND RETAIL!
WVDOIVOIVOVDOOD
This large and pushing establishment sells at wholesale to
and adjoining counties.
90 town and country m
Its wholesale
markets.
At this season we are specially pushing School Books
full
School Supplies. Our
erchants in this
trade extends into Maryland and West: Virginia.
We are at all times prepared to compete in prices with the city
stock of these goods is large,
complete, and the prices lowest wholesale.
Special attention
We are also doing a nice trade in Miscellaneous Books and Baby
and Doll Carriages.
Constantly in stoc
ery and Harmonicas.
is also being given to Holiday
k a full line of Staple and ¥
Merchants and others can buy of us to ad-
vantage, Tablets, Inks, Pens, Pencils, Envelopes, Bill Books and
Legal Cap Papers, Fountain Pens, Blank Books,
Yeceipt Books, School Books and Supplies, Miscellaneous Books
and such oter goods as are usually for sale in an up-to-date Book,
News and Stationery Store.
Chas
gs. FH. Hisher.
ancy Station-
Judgment Notes,
and
and
Goods.
Get It At Jeffery’s!
When in need
Groceries, Fa
Fresh Bread,
AT oe
CALL
THE LEADING GROCERY.
Space is too limit
Call and be convi
~REE—
of anything in the line of Pure
ncy Confectionery, Thompson’s
Books, Stationery, Notions, ete.
ed to enumerate all my bargains here,
nced that I sell the best of gonds at the
lowest living prices.
My business has grown wonderfully in the
for which I heart
past few years,
ily thank the good Es of Salisbury
and vicinity and shall try harder than ever to merit your
future patronage.
J. 1.
Opposite Postofiice.
& Avrso RemMEMBERthat J. T. Jeffery is agent for
the CONNELLSVILLE STEAM LAUN
Respectfully,
JEFFERY,
NDRY
laundry away every Tuesday.
Grant
and sends
Street.
IN THE KOONTZ BUILDING!
Having some time ago purchased the Koontz property, all those
interested in Monumental work will find me
known as
THE KOONTZ
from small Headstones to G
PRICES HERETOFORE UNHEARD OF.
None but the best of Marble and Granite, and workmanship the finest.
make Granite work a Specialty, You will be surprised at my
gee me.
ranite Monuments.
NA CY oT vs
XH
ALBERT [. HILLE
in what was once
MARBLE WORKS.
I am prepared as never before to offer to all those in need of Monumental work,
prices.
1
Call and
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{
[oy
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lever
Fthat
{ light cheap and
| get along without coal;
Pq
(LIK
TROUBLE
ining 10 Mines
1S 0 Ning,
r
[TUR BLK
(lings P
IINEIS
and the General
Public
Star”
Some Things Tha: Should be Pon-
dered Over and Ir quircd Into.
You who have never mined coal and
know little about mines and mining,
and who sit by your pleasant firesides
evening after evening, know of course
that coalis a great blessing to man-
kind. No doubt you have often, while
shall | Sitting in the glare of your cheerful
| fires, thought of the many uses to which
it
it
how
how
coal is put to serve mankind ;
keeps you from suffering cold ;
keeps in motion the rumbling wheels of |
factories and mills; how it feeds the
iron horse and enables the commerce
| of your country to spread from ocean |
the large |
| that has lately been dumped into this
to ocean; how it enables
ocean stenmehip to help in carrying on
the commerce and traflic of the entire
world ; how it aids in making
abundant, and how it
| is mankind’s slave in a legion of ways
No doubt |
and serves its master well.
electric |
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{
{
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Pas TauaehaY. JA
without it, and that the amount of pick
work and hard labor was lessened but
little. And from what we have learned
about these machines from reliable
sources, and from what we have learned
about mining coal by actuai experience,
we are thoroughly satisfied that the
miners are in the right, We feel safe
in saying that at the price offered, 20
cents per ton, no miner can pay his
debts and make as comfortable a liv-
ing as a well fed dog enjoys. We do
not dispute that a miner might be able
to feed and clothe himself and family
well at that price, had he a cast-iron
constitution, get sick, hurt or
killed, all the work he could do every
day, no doctor bills, house rent, fuel,
oil, powder, tools and other miners’
supplies to pay for, ete. but such i
never the case.
THE MINERS’ STRIKE.
never
S
Seeing that the company was inclined
to pay no more than 20 cents per ton,
the miners quit work, but offered to
fairly compromise matters and work
for 30 cents per ton after tlie machines.
This offer wasrejected by the company,
and the strikers were soon ordered f{o
take out their tools, which they did. as
any other manly men would have done.
The company’s next move was to
break the strike by importing what is
commonly called scab labor, and judg-
ing from the kind of semi-brute trash
community, the name is a very appro-
priate one, for they appear as scabs on
the face of decency, as warts on the
| face of humanity.
you have often wondered how we could |
but have
thought of the poor men
delve in the bowels of the earth, toiling
and sweating, and risking their lives
this useful commodity may be
brought from its dark and dismal hid-
ing place to the otatside world, where it
can be put
which the Creator intended it?
It is said that the pen is more mighty
than the sword. and so it is; and it can
also’be truthfully said that the men
who risk life and limb, at mining coal
are greater heroes than the victors of
great battles, than the conquerors of
nations. If no one would sacrifice his
health and risk his-life in a coal
of what benefit to mankind would coal
be?
That you may think of these things
and learn to appreciate the miner as
well as the coal he mines, we will tell
you of some things that perhaps you
have never thought of or even dreamed
ft:
When a coal miner bids his loved
ones adieu in the morning and goes to
his work, he knows not whether he will
come home a living man or a mangled
corpse. True, life is uncertain at best,
but there are few occupations so haz-
ardous as that of the coal miner. Aside
from the danger of being crushed un-
der falling rock or coal, he must breathe
into his lungs foul and poisonous air,
offensive powder smoke and coal dust.
In many cases he must also”work in
water where he is chilled to the bone,
day in and day out,and thereby shorten
his life and be a broken down man in
many cases when he should be in his
prime. Look about you and see the
many examples for yourself.
Now, all fair-minded persons will
agree that men following such a dan-
gerous occupation should be well paid.
But are they well paid? Most of us
know that as a rule they are not. [In
fact the instances are numerous in
which they are grudgingly paid a mere
pittance, often not as much as a coun-
ty allowance for the maintenance of a
pauper at a county alms house, and at
present there ara such instances right
here in the rich Elk Lick coal region.
Here where there should be nothing
but peace, prosperity and happy homes,
there are many men who have starva-
tion, want and desolation staring them
and their families in the face.
THE CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE.
you
Oo
Some time ago the Merchant Coal
Company, a corporation of Baltimore |
| sworn out by Supt.
capitalists who are operating several
coal mines in this region, installed in
their mines a number of mining ma-
chines. When these machines were
introduced here, we were told that the
object in introducing them was to
make the work easier for the miners,
and at the same time increase the out-
put of the mines. But it now seems
that the machines were put in for the
purpose of reducing the miners’ wages
to a mere pittance, degrade labor and
thereby more rapidly enrich the said
coal company. We infer this from the
fact that no sooner than the machines
had fairly been put in operation, the
said coal company cut miners’
wages from 40 to 20 cents por ton.
The miners having had
working after the
cavered that they e
the
trial at
1 dis-
very
to the legion of uses for |
mine, |
Since that cargo was landed several
who |
| and were brought here under misrepre-
from West Virginia and Maryland, but
these came on one train and departed
on the next, saying they were no scabs
sentation
agents.
by the company and its
These men were civilized, and
enslaved and degraded to the level of |
the brute creation. Thus the first bat-
tle was won by the miners, and the
whole community, farmers, business |
men, preachers and everybody else re-
Jolced.
THE COMPANY'S NEXT MOVE.
Smarting under disappointment, the
company sent out agents to look for
other men, and it was not long until a
cargo of the desired rubbish arrived.
other fresh lots of the same kind of
stale goods have arrived, and we now
have the disgusting spectacle of seeing
probably 30 or 40 ignorant and unde-
sirable foreigners quartered in the
company’s horse stable, where they eat,
sleep and live after the manner of dogs
in asdog kennel. And to top off the
outrage, they are guarded by our county
sheriff and a posse of
ARMED DEPUTIES.
And what need is there of the sheriff
and these armed deputies to be at the
mines? There is no need for them to
be there, for there has been no rioting,
no property destroyed and no attempt
has been made to destroy property. or
to do personal violence to anyone. To
the credit of the strikers it must be
said that they have from the start been
orderly, peaceable and law-abiding, and
so they will remain, unless driven to
desperation and violence by the pangs
of hunger and want, which we hope
will not come to pass.
In an interview with the sheriff. on
Monday, we asked him whether he was
there because he wanted to be or be-
cause he had to be there. He replied
with a sorrowful countenance that it
was because he had to be there, where-
upon he produced two sworn state-
ments which he claimed compelled him
under the laws of our state to be on
hand, saying he was so advised by his
attorney, John R. Scott, Esq., of Somer-
The two legal documents or sworn
in substance as fol-
set.
statements were
lows:
Themas T.
company, swore to
before a justice of the peace that one
Ilickinger and others had threatened
to do personal violence to his employes.
The document was a warrant
Garrett, before a
justice of the peace, in which he alleges
Louis Fuller had threatened
personal. violence.
these documents constitute the ‘au-
thority under whieh Sherill Hartzell
and his deputies are acting upon ad-
vice of “.JJohnny” Scott. Great Rcott!
At the time, we had an idea that by
placing such documents in the hands of
the sheriff he would be obliged to act;
but upon careful deliberation and con-
suiting good legal authority, we have
choinred our mind,
o sincere. We shall not say that
Le is not sincere, for we do not know,
we are willing to give him the
all doubts. We do net wish
Boswell, president of the
a statement made
other
that one
to do him
nied)
and
3
hess
fit of
although the sheriff |
NUARY 12
|
| more coal operator has more law
like our native miners, refused to be | privilege
| Somerset county farmer has.
|
| were
And |
| their occupation in the mines;
|
|
|
to speak harshly of Sheriff Hartzell, for |
he has favored the editor in times past,
aithough nol any more
: favored there are no
than the ec
£110. 80
| through siiow
obli-'§
| to kill him and burn
The first lot of men imported were |
1899.
gations due either way. But those
deputies of his—they are a hard-look-
ing lot, and it is our opinion that they
are as hard as they look and as coward-
ly as they are hard-looking. Wedidn't
see one of them that we would fear in
open daylight, armed or unarmed, and
we didn’t see one that we would want
to be associated with. In our opinion
they have bad-looking faces, and as we
told the sheriff and Supt. Garrett,
don’t like them. Who would?
them at least. McDowell, by name,
been trying his best to foment trouble
with the strikers, by cursing and vther-
we
| wise insulting them v hen passing near
the company’s ground, and to the cred- |
it of the sheriff it must be said that he
compelled the vile coward to shut his
vile mouth and not cause trouble with
the strikers.
sheriff himself, the superintendent,
some of the strikers and some of those
important and pious looking deputies.
WIO PAYS THE FREIGHT?
In other words, who is to pay for the
services of the sheriff and those slimy
deputies? We hope the tax-payers of
the county will not be compelled to
foot this useless expense, and if it
comes to that, Tne Star for one will |
enter a vigorous protest. Things have
come to a pretty pass, indeed, when a |
man can get a sheriff and posse to
guard his person and property on ac-
count of a few alleged fool threats.
Could a farmer secure a sheriff and |
posse to guard his person and property,
if another man was heard to threaten |
his barn? No.
Ile would be told by any lawyer to go |
and swear out a warrant for the arrest |
of the man who made the threat, have
him bound over to court for surety of
the peace and give bond for his good
behavior. But then perhaps a Balti- |
and
'
in Somerset county than a
SOME PEOPLE ARE TOO TIMID,
Some people are too easily scared, es- |
pecially when they want to make the
| miners dance and see a possible chance
to make the county pay the fiddler. |
That’s the way it looks to Tie Stig,
and we believe THE Star is right. |
We sympathize most deeply with the
strikers, for we feel that they are being | |
grieviously wronged by the Merchant
Company, and if their demand, which
we consider as just a demand as ever
was made, not granted, then this
whole community must suffer business |
depression, and our fair valley here will
be over-run with an undesirable and
ignorant foreign element to terrorize
the community; honest labor will be
degraded, fund there will be other evils
thrust upon us to numerous. to men-
tion. ' The Merchant Coal € ‘ompany
may have a legal right to bring such
an aflliction upon this community, but
they certainly have no moral right to
do so.
We hope the company will see that
they are wrong, and that they will con-
ced&To the miners’ modest demand. Is it
not enough that these men dig hundreds
of tons of coal annually which the mine
operators do not pay for at all? By
this. we have reference to the over-
weight on cars, every pound of which
the operators get market price for
from the consumers, And it not
enough that these men have been
spending the bulk of their wages at the
company’s store? We can see no oc-
casion for a cut of 50 per cent. in wages,
for the mining machines do not aid the
miner sufliciently to stand a cut like
that. Besides that, if the other opera-
tors can pay 40 cents per ton and com-
pete in the markets while having their
coal mined the old way, (and they say
they can) surely the Merchant Compa-
ny can pay 30 cents for machine mined
coal and compete in the markets. At
any rate that looks reasonable.
is
is
TWO BIG MASS MEETINGS.
Last I‘riday. notwithstanding the in-
clement weather, the strikers marched
through Salisbury, headed by the
Joynton Cornet Band, with the Stars
and Stripes floating over them. There
160 men in line, and as they
marched through town they were
cheered on all sides by citizens and
business men of the town. In the pro-
cession there were some who had been
maimed and crippled in the mines;
some whose physique showed plainly
their broken down constitutions due to
boys of
tender years who should be in .school, |
but whose poverty compels them to aid |
iiweir fathers in earning a livelihood in
the mines; alsosome old battle-scarred |
velerans of the Rebellion, who helped |
to suve. their country and free the |
slaves. but who are now old and feeble,
:ose lot is- little better than the |
and wl
negroes who were in bondage.
indeed a pathetic scene to behold these
sad-countenanced men trudging along
and clush, many of them |
It was |
elstd and poorly shed, 2
has |
This we have from the |
| to talk the situation over.
One of |
{ and demand justice.
| business men from Salisbury and
lderly
| Star for refutation.
| willing to meet them in public
| In the meantime the farmers and
nd being |
pelted by the plttiless rain, re rea-
sonable man who could stand and
watch this sorrowful procession of out-
raged human beings, and not feel his
heart go out in sympathy for them.
must have a heart of stone, a soul of
iron and a conscience dulled to all sense
of honor and justice.
After marching through town, these
strikers assembled in the opera louse
Here it was
decided to march in a body to the
Niverton mines, where mining machines
are also responsible for a reduction of
20 per cent. in wages, and try to induce
the men employed there to join in the
just demand for better wages. We are
informed that some of the Niverton
men have joined the ranks of the strik-
ers, while others are still at their dis-
honored posts and afraid to come out
To these latter we:
say, shame! shame!
On Monday there was another mass
meeting at Coal Run, and the editor of
this paper was there to report the pro-
ceedings. It was a large gathering.
and there were something like 700 peo-
ple in attendance by actual count. The
strikers: were not only there in full
force, but there were delegations there
from all the mines in the region, as
well as many farmers, preachers and
Mey-
ersdale, who came to show their sym-
pathy and offer words of encourage-
ment to the strikers. The Salisbury
{ and Boynton cornet bands furnished
music for the occasion, and a more or-
and law-abiding body of men
were never assembled together. No
threats of violence were heard, no in-
| toxicated persons were in: the assem-
blage, and nothiag but cool common
sense and reason prevailed.
tev. E. 8S. Hassler, Norman -D. Hay,
Ross Seehler and the editor of this pa-
per were chosen as a committee repre-
| senting the ministry, the farmers and
the press, and they were requested to
call upon the coal company’s officials
and use their good oflices in behalf of
bringing about a settlement of the
trouble. We were received with courte-
sy and respect by Supt. Garrett, and
after stating our mission and doing ali
in our power to show that the whole:
community is being wronged by the
{ company’s policy, Mr. Garrett stated
that he is but an employe of the com-
pany and has no authority to concede
to any demands made by the strikers.
He added that Mr. Boswell, the presi-
dent of the company, had gone to Bal-
timore, and the only way the strikers.
could confer with the company would
be by sending a committee to Balti-
more and meeting them at their office.
Later on a request was made to allow
a committee of the strikers to confer
with the imported men who have taken
their places, but this was flatly refused
by Supt. Garrett and Sheriff Hartzell,
who said that would be contrary to
their instructions. Thus the matter
ended and the remainder of the time
was.used by the miners in appointing:
committees to decide on further pro-
eedings.
Rev. llassler made a very neat and
able speech to the strikers, at their re~
quest, and in it he complimented them
for their good behavior, expressed his
sympathy for them and gave thenu
wholesome admonition and ad-
Several other persons also made:
much
vice.
short but very appropriate speeches.
CLOSING REMARKS,
It is openly charged that the import-
ed miners are kept well filled all day
with liquor, in order to induce them to
stick to the job; it is openly charged
that one of them who quit the job and
went back to the works for something:
was roughly handled, kicked and beat-
en by the deputies; it is rumored that
they are tormented by body lice, that
they are afilicted with itch and ber
diseases, and that their equine hotel is
little better than a pest house and is.a
menace tothe health of the community.
We do not know whether these charges.
are.true or false, but if they are true,
we hope that the human refuse now
filling the places of honest American
labor will be kept so busy itching and
scratching that they will have no time
left to dig coal. And we would sug-
gest that these charges be investigated,
and if found to be true, that the offend-
ers be punished as the law provides for.
We have now given facets as we have
found them, and where only our opin-
ion is given, it is honest opinion, as od
Lis our judge, and we believe we have
i voiced the sentiment of the entire com-
ny: The people are with Tue
Star, and when the people are with us,
we defy tyranny and oppression.
These are our sentiments; without
fear or asking favor, and live or die,
sink or swim, survive or perish, we will
stand by them though the heavens fall.
Anyone differing with our sentiments
is invited to use the columns of Tix
We are willing to
and we are
debate
STARS
oth-
ers who are able to do so are siding the
strikers in trying to keep the wolf from
give all coffers a fair show,
or through the eolumns of Tie
| their doors, and they hope to see then
, and they
xt
This is right
ne
win,
warded in
Lids
will be re
woria,; Tonot io
£3
ile