p. 9 | A BROKEN PEOPLE by John McDowell

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 23, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 30.

A BROKEN PEOPLE.

By John McDowell

[From "The Strike of the Anthracite Miners," by Rev. John McDowell, in the July Pilgrim.]

THE miners, as a rule, have large families. Most of the boys are sent to work at an early age. The writer of this article began work before he was eight years old. The law of Pennsylvania has prohibited boys from working under fourteen years of age. But so great is the need of the family that oftentimes the law is ignored and boys under twelve are sent to work to help earn the living. There is no sadder sight than to see boys, young enough and small enough to be in their mother's arms, going back and forth to their daily toil. O, for a Mrs. Browning to write the cries of the miner's children! The miner and his brave wife do all they can to keep their heads above water, but sad to say their efforts are seldom successful.

In no part of this land will you find so many broken-down men,—cripples, widows, and orphans,—as in the coal regions. Last year 513 men were killed and 1,243 injured. In the past thirty-two years, over ten thousand men have been killed, and over twenty-six thousand injured. Think of the suffering and sorrow represented by these figures! There is not a day but the black, heavy ambulance may be seen slowly making its way from the mine to some home with a dead father or an injured son. Every day the miner takes his life in his hands for the sake of a scanty living for his family, which is always dearer to him than his life.

The mortality among the miners is very much above the average. Especially is this true of the children. Go into any mining village and ask a mother, "How many children have you?" The answer will be, perhaps, "I have had eleven and lost six." And such a statement is usually followed by this comment, "Thank God, they are spared a miner's life."