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Strange Miners in Logan (1913)

13 Saturday Mar 2021

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From the Logan Banner, of Logan, WV, comes this editorial about unionization, dated March 21, 1913:

STRANGE MINERS cannot get work at all in the principal Logan County mines, it is said, and even in the smaller mines an applicant has to run the gauntlet of a series of “family-history-cross-examination-questions” that would stagger a Philadelphia lawyer before one gets a job–and then like as not get turned down because he is not of Logan county. The precaution is fully warranted. The United Mine Workers hope to control the Guyan Valley field, if they ever DO–and THEY NEVER WILL–by first “organizing” the smaller, isolated mines by “smuggling in” an agitator or two now and then and finally with one “grand sweep” capture the big works. If the labor leaders actually KNEW certain conditions and “inside workings” now effective even in the small works half so well as they THINK they know them, they’d give up as a bad job their idea of “organizing” Logan county and go to honest work shoveling coal for a living themselves. During the past year, more than one “undesirable miner” has been shipped “bag and baggage” out of the valley because he let his agitation fever break out too strong, prematurely spoiling his little game. In another column will be found a news item of the shut-down of the Ramage works of the Spruce River Coal Co. We predict that some of Logan’s mines will turn off their power and “lock out” their employees before they will let the United Mine Workers conduct their business for them. So far as the corporation’s finances are concerned, the U.S. Coal & Oil Co. can shut down all of its Island Creek mines, burn its tipples, and dump its cash into Guyan river. And that’s what would best suit the competitive coal operators of other States! Likewise the miners’ union agitators and leaders! But there’s another side of the story–the miner and his family need the work in the coal-bank, the merchant needs some of the money he earns, Logan county needs its merchants and the outside world needs West Virginia coal–the BEST that “old mother earth” ever produced!

Mine Guards of Logan (1922)

16 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Huntington, Logan

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this editorial about mine guards, dated June 30, 1922:

MINE GUARDS OF LOGAN

The attorneys for the defense in the miners’ trials at Charles Town, which have been in progress for the past several weeks, have taken every opportunity of referring to the deputy sheriffs of Logan county mine guards as “thugs” and “two-gun men.”

Logan county is, and has been for several years, ruled by officers elected on the Democratic ticket. The Logan Banner adheres to the party of Lincoln, Grant, Roosevelt and Harding. It believes in the policy of the Grand Old Party and so long as that belief endures we will be found advocating the doctrines as preached by the leaders of this political organization.

Politics has no place in the discussion of the so called mine guard system in Logan county. We hold the love and respect of our homes far above any reverence to political parties and when the good name of Logan is attacked we forget political lines and join with the good people of this vast community in resenting any reflection on the fair name of Logan.

It has always been a mystery to us why the demand for the abolishment of the extra number of deputy sheriffs in this county should come from parties who are non-residents of the county? Who has demanded their abolishment? What cry has been heard from Logan county for aid? What facts have been presented of any unlawful acts committed at the hands of officers in this county?

Logan is filled with men of the highest type of intelligence. Likewise, they have many, many men here who are as brave as any men to be found in the nation. These men would not, for an instant, be a party to crimes in the county without raising their voices in protest. When it is all sifted down, it is found the hue and cry for a change of conditions is raised by those other than citizens of Logan county. Here are four points that must be borne in mind when considering Logan county:

  1. Due to the natural geographical conditions, Logan is rather isolated from other sections of the state.
  2. Due to this isolation and the fact that it is far removed from through transportation facilities, it is hard to attract labor here.
  3. In order to secure labor it becomes necessary to employ many who have had previous criminal careers.
  4. The county is mountainous, the operations are many and widely scattered, and the forces of deputies are not too many but otherwise too small to maintain order and uphold the law in an area of 400 square miles

Logan is situated among the mountains with but one natural outlet. This is by way of the C. & O. branch line to Huntington. The county is naturally divided by creeks, valleys, and branch railway lines. On these can be found many operations, employing hundreds of laborers, and to successfully cope with the lawless the sheriff is naturally required to employ more than the usual amount of deputies.

If Logan county was situated on the trunk line of any railway system, it would be a much easier task to supply the mines with labor, but due to the fact that it is far removed from any other section of the state and that in order to reach any other point, east, west, north or south it becomes necessary to travel over a distance of 75 miles to Huntington, labor is hard to obtain.

In securing this labor to fill the requirements of the large corporations operating here, it is necessary to visit the employment agencies located in the larger cities. Anyone acquainted with these agencies recognize the fact they are not scrupulous about whom they list, and the natural consequence is that many brought here on transportation are recognized criminals and members of all nationalities. Not all of them, thank goodness, are of the lawless class, but many are. They require constant watching and close scrutiny to see that their criminal tendencies do not become too pronounced. In order to do this it becomes imperative to have a large force of officers.

In view of the fact that there are 142 operations in this county and that approximately 50,000 people are laboring within our borders it can be readily seen that 35 deputies are a comparative small force to exercise supervision over such a huge population. Should a riot break out within our county it would require at least eight hours to obtain help from any section of the state. The fact that Logan needs as large a force of officers was amply attested when the armed march was made on Logan last August.

This article is not written in the defense of Don Chafin or his deputies. They need no defense at our hands. It is not written in defense of a policy adopted by any political party in the county. Regardless of the political affiliations of the sheriff, the Banner would earnestly recommend to anyone, be he the most rabid Republican in the county, if they should be sheriff, the retention of an official force as large as is now employed.

A great hue and cry has been raised because the salaries of these officers have been paid by the coal operators. Let us for a moment realize that the coal industry in the county is the sole industry in our midst. Upon the shoulders of these operators fall the burden of the peace and happiness of their employees. It is in order to furnish these employees protection and security that they have gone into their pocket books and paid for this protection. Who objects? Have you heard a taxpayer in Logan county object? Not one. They are perfectly willing that this cost shall be borne by the operators. They might as well object to the operators subscribing to better schools in Logan. Also voice opposition to better roads, the burden of which falls on the shoulders of the operators.

No one has heard a Macedonian cry from Logan for aid? Not even when union fields of the state were appealing for bread. If there was ever an example of the benefits of the non-union shop plan it was simply exemplified during the recent dull period. Logan worked and fared well. We have no ills to cure nor any abuses that need redress. The propaganda put forth pour from the foul mouths of others than citizens of Logan county and we beseech them to busy themselves with affairs other than ours, for we are perfectly able to take care of ourselves, and when we need their assistance, or advice, we will call for them loud and long.

Huntington Editorial about the UMWA (1925)

05 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by in Coal, Huntington, Logan, Williamson

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this editorial regarding a visit to the region by UMWA officials in 1925. The story is dated September 4, 1925.

A STATEMENT OF INDISPUTABLE FACTS

The Sunday issue of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch contained a most interesting editorial which told the unvarnished truth about the recent visit the officials of the United Mine Workers to the Logan and Williamson coal fields. The editorial follows.

Disappointed Visitors

Within the past three days officials of the United Mine Workers of America have visited Logan and Williamson and some of the mining operations near these prosperous West Virginia cities. Up to the hour of this writing the visitors have made no statement either as to the purpose of their visit or the impressions they have gained from the conditions encountered.

It may be taken for granted, however, that the gentlemen representing the United Mine Workers are not highly pleased. They did not find in the miners of the Logan and Williamson fields the “serfs” and downtrodden creatures professional agitators have described. They did not find beleaguered camps of concentrados crying out for release through the medium of membership in the U.M.W. They did not find gunmen and desperadoes awaiting them at the train to turn them back with broken heads and verbal abuses. The absence of these things were disappointing.

But for the purpose of the U.M.W. the things these visitors did find were even more disappointing. They found for example miners who earn more dollars per year than any others in the bituminous fields in the world. They found more miners living in better houses than are to be found in any of the mining camps of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana or Illinois. They found miners and their wives and children better fed, better clothed and with better living conditions surrounding them than any others in the United States.

They found in Logan and Williamson fields men who are content and who are unwilling to leave steady employment, good wages, and good homes with all the comforts of life, to take up a miserable existence in the tents of professional strikers there to subject their wives and children to unwanted hardships and deprivations.

In short, they were not welcomed as needed deliverers. The miners in these fields know that it is not the purpose of these gentlemen to bring about a betterment of the conditions under which they live, but to create a condition which will cause coal production to cease. Organization is a fine thing and should be encouraged when it is for the good of the organized. But the proposal of the United Mine Workers, as it affects these miners and the business and labor interests of this section in general, is sinister and destructive. The unionization at this time of any considerable part of the Williamson and Logan fields would mean a strike. A strike, if effective, would paralyze business in all of Logan county, and in Huntington the result would be almost disastrous. An effective strike in these fields would paralyze Huntington’s wholesale and jobbing business. It would close many of the factories and worst of all would almost immediately result in unemployment for hundreds of railway shop workers and scores of train crews all the way from Charleston to Portsmouth with the brunt of the blow falling upon Huntington.

The United Mine Workers is no longer the helpful, constructive organization it was twenty years ago. Its ranks have been decimated and its policies have been so radical and unreasonable in many cases as to bring it into disrepute with the public, including the legitimate labor organizations whose members are ruled by reason. In West Virginia dues paying members have dwindled to almost the vanishing point. In strikes, fomented in an effort to destroy West Virginia coal in the interest of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois mines and the mine workers in those states, West Virginia has cost the U.M.W. millions and the officials now face the impending anthracite strike with a sadly depleted treasury.

The desperate plight of Mr. Lewis, his organizers, and well paid cabinet naturally produces its own results. The strike in northern West Virginia has had no effect other than to keep some thousands of men out of employment and deprive thousands of women and children of the comforts the pay envelope would provide. The mining of coal in the Kanawha and New River fields the Miners Union has, to use a baseball term, “struck out.” Attempts to force upon the operators a wage scale which prohibited the mining and marketing of coal at a price less than a ruinous loss have resulted in strike after strike in those fields until the union is but a band of disorganized stragglers whose representatives, when they bolted the State Federation of Labor convention in this city two weeks ago, went away unwept and were not urged to return.

If the miners of this district had any prospect, even remote, of gaining anything by organization, no self-respecting man could afford to oppose or discourage the movement. But the weight is all on the other side. If they needed the union, public sentiment would see that they got it. We are living like that today. But since they do not need it, since the movement is directed against their welfare and against the thousands of legitimate unionists and all business and all industry in this great tri-state area, the organization effort, if it is being seriously contemplated–which we very greatly doubt–has no appeal either to the miners or to public sentiment.

The Logan and Williamson miners do not want to exchange the well filled pay envelope for the miserable weekly doe from the U.M.W. treasury. They do not want to trade their comfortable, well furnished and well lighted homes for leaky tents with tallow candles. They do not want to take their families from places and stations of comfort and respectability to sloth and degradation.

Organization means strike. Strike means starvation and, if the bloody history of Mingo’s experience with the United Mine Workers is to be repeated, bloodshed, terror, and bold assassination. Mr. Lewis, by a blind and unreasoning insistence upon the impossible Jacksonville agreement, has gotten himself into a dilemma of the most embarrassing kind. He is at end of his tether. The treasury is low. The organization is in a state of decay, with miners every day discovering they are better off without it than with it.

If, instead of uttering strike threats; if, instead of trying to enforce a wage scale which is a grotesque economic absurdity and rank impossibility; if, instead of leading the miners into hardship and strike, he would lead them in the ways of peace by consenting to wage adjustments in keeping with the state of the coal market, the organization might regain public confidence, recover its vitality, and reclaim its usefulness. And Mr. Lewis himself, instead of facing the imminent danger of becoming a discredited industrial adventurer, would be acclaimed a leader, as was John Mitchell, and as was Samuel Gompers.

Whirlwind News 07.24.1925

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Coal, Logan, Spottswood, Warren, Whirlwind

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An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on July 24, 1925:

We are sad at this writing, since our friends are passing away so fast. Uncle Thomas Tomblin, who has been ill so long, died at his home. Uncle Frances Collins died at the home of Sol Adams, Jr.

Sol Adams was seen returning from Logan yesterday.

Harve Smith and Tabor Blair were enjoying the Fourth of July while hunting.

The county road is progressing nicely on the head of Hart.

Squire Adams was seen going toward White Oak with a bundle of papers. Wonder where he was going?

Lindsay Blair has quit the county road and gone to 18 mine to repair cars.

Favorable Review of Logan, WV (1925)

23 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by in Coal, Logan

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this favorable review by one prominent visitor in 1925. The story is dated Friday, June 5, 1925.

“Truth About Logan”

By W.M. Hornsby

Fayette County Man Who Attended Grand Encampment of Odd Fellows Here Makes Interesting Report.

The yellow journalists and just plain liars who have been telling everything about Logan county but the truth for many years may now prepare to receive a real kick in the slats. Their crazy illusions are due to get shattered.

No man ever came to Logan on a peaceful mission and went away to relate any stories of wrong treatment.

The finest group of men that have visited our city for many moons was here when the Grand Encampment of the Odd Fellows of the state was held in Logan recently. In their meetings at the Christian church many of the delegates confessed that they came to Logan fearful and trembling, all on account of the millions of lurid lies which they had read in various papers before coming here. It may sound like old stuff to say that “truth crushed to earth will rise again” but that is exactly what happened in this case. The delegates were recipients of the famous Logan hospitality. The keys to the city were theirs and they were accorded the kind of a reception which Logan has always given to anything good. After a pleasant visit the delegates departed for their homes with a true knowledge of the conditions which exist here, a knowledge of the fact that Logan is not different from any other prosperous mining section of the country.

One of the gentlemen who attended the Grand Encampment was Mr. W.M. Hornsby, of Bowlin, Fayette county. He too had been filled with the common ideas which prevail about Logan county, but during his visit here he discovered the real Logan, not the kind that exists in the putrid minds of the editors of the sensational yellow journals which have done a grievous wrong to Logan county. He discovered real friends with a handshake just as firm and a smile just as sincere as he had ever known. When Mr. Hornsby returned to his home he wrote a report to this lodge. That report is of vital interest to every Loganite and we are glad to reproduce it in the columns of this paper. The entire report is as follows:

“To whom it may concern…and I think it will concern all true hearted Americans:

“This is a true story of what took place during my stay in Logan county. To get a proper start, I must go back one year. On May 14, 1924, the Grand Encampment met in its annual session in Gassaway, W.Va. When the time arrived to choose a place for our next annual meeting, a good many towns offered invitations to the body. Among them was the town of Logan, and when Logan was mentioned there was silence in the hall, until finally some brother said: ‘Can we meet in Logan?’ For we thought by some of the newspaper reports that Logan county was the hell on earth and the town of Logan was the gateway to the bottomless pit. Then somebody got up in the midst of us and said: ‘Yes, you can meet in Logan, for I’m from the town of Logan.’ We looked over this monster from head to foot but could not see any horns and then our Grand Scribe stood up and declared: ‘Our own dear John wants us to come,’ and we answered, ‘If our own dear John wants us to come, we will go.’

“I started to Logan town on May 12, 1925, from Bowlin, Fayette county, wondering what was going to happen to me. We arrived at Logan the following day in a fine coach donated by the C. & O. for our convenience on the trip to Logan and return.

“When we got off the train at the Logan depot, some brother whispered, ‘Now where–and what?’ Just at that moment we found our way blocked–not by the sheriff and his so-called outlaw deputies as you might think–but by John Hicks with a three hundred pound smile for he is __ and by his side stood our own dear Captain of the Uniform Bank with his fine boys.

“The command was given about face, forward march, and we went up a finely paved street by skyscraper hotels and big mercantile houses to the court house. Instead of finding the so-called persecutors of the law awaiting, we ran into a committee of Jewell Encampment, No. 124, with some of the fairest of the fair sex assisting them and all wearing broad and welcoming smiles. We registered as customary and were assigned to our various hotels.

“After the grand body had been called to order in the Christian church by John C. Hicks, past grand patriarch, C.C. Chambers, mayor of Logan, gave us a fine talk and turned the town over to us, saying ‘the town is yours, do what you want with it,’ and common sense would teach that we were not going to destroy our own property. Next were a group of songs by Mrs. Frank Adkins and Mrs. Nick Roomy, accompanied by fine music, and followed in rotation by several fine speakers, and every one of them said ‘we welcome you,’ and by the smiles on their faces you could tell that they meant it.

“At the close of the morning session we had dinner in the basement of the church, where we saw some of our earthly angels sweating over a hot stove to prepare a feast good enough for a king, while two others rendered fine music and songs, accompanied by one of Logan’s imps–but he had a fiddle, not horns as you might think.

“During the afternoon session in stepped Little John, with the statement, ‘Grand Patriarch, the citizens of this town beg this grand body to let them take you out for an auto ride at your pleasure and show you some of Logan county.’

“___ for the ride, and promptly at that hour it was announced: ‘The cars are waiting.’ And we went out and loaded up according to the capacity of each car. It was found that there were not quite enough cars for all, so an appeal was made to the garage men of the town, and the latter stepped on the starters of some brand new machines and fell in line for our pleasure. Now, Fayette county garage men, would you have done that?

“The trip lasted two and a half hours over paved roads to the coal camps. I was told that part of the roads we traveled over were built by the so-called outlaw operators at a cost of $650,000 and when it was finished they walked into the court house and said to the county court, ‘your honors, we will give you this road if you will keep it up.’ Now, if this is so, I would not mind to have them for neighbors, would you?’ In going from one coal camp to another we met the miners coming from work. Walking? No! Sitting reared back in real cars–no Henry’s–and driving over hard roads built by the so-called outlaw operators for their use. I wish we had some outlaws like that in our town, don’t you?

I will say now, Mr. Newspaperman, wherever you may be over this great nation, listen to plain, honest-to-goodness, one-hundred percent American language. If you have been guilty of this dirty low-down, yellow dog propaganda about Logan county and its fine people. In the name of God and the love of humanity, I say stop right now. It’s a shame if you haven’t any respect for yourselves, for God’s sake have mercy on the people of the best county on earth and the country that gives you shelter for you may just as well stop right now for we have been there from every nook and corner in the United States, and we will not believe you anymore anyway. Cut it out or the devil will get you, for no one could write such stuff but imps. If you will just go to the town of Logan and walk around you will get ashamed of yourself and stop talking about your neighbors.”

Guyandotte River Pollution (1925)

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by in Coal, Guyandotte River, Wyoming County

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, in a story dated May 22, 1925, comes this bit of history about pollution in the Guyandotte River:

Making Hard Drive To Remove Pollution From Guyan River

Game Protector L.A. Anderson, of Pineville, Wyoming county, under the supervision of the game and fish commission of West Virginia, arranged a number of parties before a local justice of the peace at Mullens, W.Va., the other day on charges of violation of the law against the pollution of streams.

It seems that a restaurant keeper, a tailor, a barber shop, a pool room, all of Mullens, had been guilty of throwing trash boxes and papers and refuse from the restaurant into the Guyan river at that point, but the chief point of interest to the coal industry was the arrest of the Gulf Smokeless Coal Company, operating at Wyco, a point above Mullens, on the Guyan river. At this operation a very modern plant for the cleaning of coal by the screen and air method has been installed and the particular charge against this coal company, which is one that affects the entire industry in Wyoming county, was that they were discharging coal laden water from the mines into the Guyan river.

Both Major W.P. Tams, Jr., president of the Gulf Smokeless Coal Company, and Superintendent Lynch were present at the trial of the case and paid the small nominal fine imposed, explaining to the court that at no time in the past had they been advised that they were violating any provision of the fish and game laws, and moreover, were not aware that they were doing so.

Officer Anderson also swore out a warrant against the Virginian Railway Company for polluting the water at Elmore, W.Va. by throwing cinders from shops and yards. By agreement of both parties the trial of this case was set forward a few days.

The final outcome of these cases will be watched with interest by the coal industry in Wyoming county. If the officials of that county are to construe the law as prohibiting the draining water from the mines in that section into the waters of the Guyan river, then the further development of that country should cease. It would be extremely difficult to interest capital in any form to invest in the mining business, which at best is beset with many difficulties, if it is made practically impossible to effect the drainage of the properties.

George Wolfe Answers John L. Lewis (1925)

07 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by in Coal

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers of America. The story is dated May 15, 1925.

WOLFE ANSWERS LEWIS’ BARRAGE; QUOTES FIGURES

Points out That Miners of Central Competitive Field Always Opposed Aims of West Virginia Miners–Tells How American Plans Gets Results

The statement of John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, to the effect that it would make no difference to the coal mining industry if the wages of the miners ________________ time scale “as the public burns 500,000,000 tons of coal annually anyway” was characterized as “ridiculous rubbish” by George Wolfe, Secretary of the Winding Gulf Operators Association, of Beckley. He said that Lewis is not looking at the industry from a practical business standpoint, when he makes such a statement, but is merely blustering to hear himself talk.

“There are 24 states in the union that are producing coal and that means there is competition,” said Mr. Wolfe. “The union miners in the Central Competitive Field are banded together in an effort to keep the ‘outlying fields’ out of the market and already have an unwarranted advantage for the inferior coal mined by them in the matter of widened freight differentials. The Central Competitive Field employs the vast majority of union miners and contributes the major share of the Indianapolis organization’s finances.

“Even when West Virginia had a large union delegation its delegates had nothing to do with making the scale and passed it over to the West Virginia delegation to enforce. West Virginia is mentioned especially as one of the most affected outlying fields against which the union is fighting. It isn’t a question of union or non-union but it is a case where the miners of the Central Competitive Field led by Lewis are seeking to curtail the production of this state, which produces one fifth of the nation’s best coal.

“That’s why Lewis is lending his personal influence and sending scores of agitators into West Virginia to try and coerce satisfied miners into joining his organization. They can either work and receive satisfactory pay or join the union and strike–in the interests of the union miners of other states who want to sell their coal instead of the West Virginia fuel. They have had the nerve to say that West Virginia should never have been developed until the other older fields that now produce a coal inferior to ours had been completely exhausted. Then they could have moved down to West Virginia and done the mining that was necessary, they say. But since they can’t come right away they want to hold up West Virginia’s progress, blight the prosperous mining villages and towns that exist today, and stay the wheels of time until such time as they can come to West Virginia and handle the situation. But the miners of West Virginia are wise enough to see this and the scheme is getting them nowhere.

“One needs look no further than the annual report of R.M. Lambie, chief of the West Virginia Department of the Mines, to see that these schemes of mice and men are ganging aft agles. Not only did the West Virginia mines ship more coal last year but the tonnage per man has increased–and thus the cost of mining is being reduced, instead of being saddled with the extra costs and working conditions imposed by the Indianapolis organization. The men of Southern West Virginia are perfectly satisfied with the American plan of mining, which implies that the miners are human beings capable of making their own agreements, and not dumb driven cattle herded together by organizers.

“The miners of West Virginia have been misled before and now they alone are the ones to take an interest in their own welfare. Their jobs are the things that support their wives and families and they mean to make the most of them. They are working more consistently and turning out more coal per man. In turn getting bigger pay checks. This in turn keeps the coal moving, and they then get a bigger share of work than those mines dominated by Lewis and his Indianapolis lieutenant.

“In 1923 West Virginia operation gave employment to 121,280 miners who worked an average of 158 days a year to mine 37,475,177 tones of coal, according to Mr. Lambi’s report. Before 1924 the American plan had spread through the industry and it only took 115,964 miners, working an average of 155 days a year to mine 103,325,960 tons of coal. In other words, with fewer working days and 5,000 fewer men in the mines, the state produced 6,000,000 tons more coal in 1924.

“Compare that with the annual report of the Illinois Department of Mines. Due to the Jacksonville Wage Scale, which is so high that it closes many markets to mines operating it despite the exceptional freight rate handicaps accorded them, the union miners were not nearly as well off as the West Virginia miners working under the American plans. The Illinois men average but 140 days work during the year. The report shows that __,765 miners in Illinois produced 72,308,665 tons of coal during 1924, which was 3,205,430 tons less than was mined in 1923. And the average tonnage per man was about one-fourth of a ton less per day.

“It isn’t necessary to answer Lewis’ statement regarding ‘starvation wages’ paid miners in West Virginia. You don’t have to give a theoretical answer to that. Just note the scores of loaders and cutlers who are making from $15 to $18 a day. Note those men to Raleigh and Fayette counties who claim championships in loading, who have averaged better than $20 a day–not for one or two days but for months at a time. Then figure out what $20 a day means, in fair weather and foul because there isn’t any rain underground, and you’ll see why Southern West Virginia doesn’t have to advertise outside of West Virginia to get all the miners it needs to produce the record tonnages from this state. All we need is a chance to get to the markets under a reasonable freight rate, and our coal will do the rest, backed by thousands of satisfied miners who are making new production records daily.”

Rotary Club Offers Cool Reception to UMWA Officials (1925)

02 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by in Coal, Logan

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about a visit to Logan by United Mine Workers of America officials in 1925. The story is dated August 28, 1925.

ROTARY CLUB OPPOSES ACTIVITY OF U.M. OFFICERS

Are Worried of the Dangers of Constitution Tampering; Urged to Watch Coming Sessions of Congress

Wednesday’s luncheon of the Rotary Club proved not only important but decidedly interesting and enjoyable. Rev. W.S. Bradshaw, of Alcolu, S.C., formerly pastor of the First Baptist church of this city, told convincingly of his mammoth potatoes and wonderful chickens and then in a more serious vein commented on action taken by the Chamber of Commerce in connection with the visit here of the United Mine Workers officials and also warned against constitution tampering and asked that much thought be given the proposed child labor amendment and education bill coming before the next session of Congress. Miss Elizabeth Thurmond and Miss Marrella Downs were guests of the club at luncheon. Dr. C.B. Morris was in charge of the boy’s work program for the day.

The following resolutions were presented and unanimously adopted:

“We the Rotary Club of Logan condemn the sporadic attempts of the United Mine Workers of America to unionize the Logan field as the pernicious efforts of non-West Virginians to disturb the stability of our industry to the advantage of other coal-producing states; we further condemn the activities of the United Mine Workers of America as inimical to the public good and delusive to the workers whose espousal of the unionist cause results in unemployment, destitution and misery.

“We pledge ourselves whole-heartedly and unreservedly to the maintenance of the business integrity of our community and of the economic position of our citizens against the assaults of industrial parasites.”

THE LOGAN ROTARY CLUB

R.B. Hayes, President

W.H. Moss, Secretary

State v. Edgar Combs (1923): Statement of Ed Cook and Others, No. 22

02 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Logan

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Armed March: More Union Miners Arrested (1922)

19 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Logan

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this item dated April 7, 1922 about the arrest of more union miners relating to the “armed march” on Logan County:

State Police Bring in Five More Miners

State policemen arrived in Logan Sunday evening with five more men whom they had arrested on Coal River and other points in that section of the state who were charged with being “red necks” or members of the armed body of miners who marched on Logan last August.

Jim and Watt Aldeman, Mote Thompson, George Hensley and Sam Mullins constituted the party under arrest. These men escaped the officers for many months, but the ferreting out process of the state officers goes merrily on and it is understood they are still valiantly seeking others for whom they have warrants and the number now charged with participation in the march and now in jail or under bond will be constantly augmented until the entire number have been rounded up and their names registered with the keeper of the Logan jail.

Micco in Logan County, WV (1916)

16 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in Coal

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Micco Belt Line and Tipple, Logan County, WV. Photo date and credit unknown.

WELCOME AWAITS ALL AT THE NEW TOWN OF MICO

Mico is growing and Mico is going to be one of West Virginia’s best and most up-to-date mining towns. There are now one hundred houses here, and another hundred are under construction. There are also two pool rooms and a motion picture theatre in which to secure entertainment and while the hours away pleasantly.

The Main Island Creek Coal company conducts in this section one of the best stores, pool rooms and barber shops on the creek; they are well lighted, sanitary, bright and new. The pool room contains three fine tables and the barber shop is equipped with two chairs and all modern appliances and conveniences. There is also a reading room where the public may go and look over the newspapers and periodicals free of charge.

J.A. Roberts, formerly of Barnabus, is now installed as manager of the poolroom and barbershop and is working diligently to provide satisfactory service for his large and growing trade.

It is true that there are no sidewalks or hard roads here at this time, but such improvements are contemplated and may be expected soon. The people of Mico are looking forward to the time when the locality will be one of the model mining camps of the entire state, and they are confident and we will enjoy having you here.

It is a pleasure to come up to the pool room and play in a nice, clean, well-managed place, get a slick shave and hair cut, and then go home and greet the family with a smile and a kiss and not go in drunk, ragged and with hair long and unkempt, growl at the little ones and the wife. Nothing like that goes here. We are trying to live happily and make the other fellow happy by smiles. Come and see us. You will enjoy your visit and we will enjoy having you here.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 4 May 1916.

Elk Creek Community Cemetery at Emmett, WV (2020)

29 Friday May 2020

Posted by in Cemeteries, Coal

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Up this way to Elk Creek Community Cemetery… 5 February 2020

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Coal is not dead! For more information, go here: https://www.ramacoresources.com/mining-complexes/elk-creek/ 5 February 2020

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My parking spot. Miners helped me to find the cemetery, which was concealed by the mining operation. 5 February 2020

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Up this way to the (mostly neglected) cemetery! 5 February 2020

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Someone left this pretty cardinal painting here. 5 February 2020

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View from the cemetery. 5 February 2020

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The Sias graves. 5 February 2020

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My great-great-uncle is buried here. 5 February 2020

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Sias graves. 5 February 2020

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Sias graves. 5 February 2020

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Sias graves. 5 February 2020

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This little guy found me. Made a buddy. 5 February 2020

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Here goes Mom to decorate the graves. 5 February 2020

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Walter F. Sias (1896-1933) was a brother to my great-grandmother, Gertie (Sias) Frye. He is buried here with two of his children. 5 February 2020

Guyandotte River Navigation (1848)

24 Sunday May 2020

Posted by in Coal, Guyandotte River, Timber

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The following petition is imperfectly transcribed and will be corrected at a later date:

A Petition of Citizens of Logan County praying for the appropriation of money to clear out the obstruction in the navigation of the Guyandotte River (July 17, 1848)

Petition to the Senate and House of Representatives of the Virginia Legislature by the “citizens of the County of Logan” who “represent to your body that they live in a County of Boundless resources of wealth, with a soil adapted to the growth and culture of all most all the substantial ___ of Life. The Indian corn, Rye, oats, Tobacco, hemp, Flax, potatoes, cabbages, carrots, pumpkins are grown as well perhaps in this county as any other region in the commonwealth whilst there is no county can exceed it on firsts: Particularly Peaches by planting on the North Hill Sides they never fail to yield their fruits and the peaches often measure from 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter, it is believed also that the ___ would grow well and by proper and well directed enterprize and industry ___ may yet be made in our County to gladden the Hearts of the Citizens and strangers. That your Humble body may have some Idea of the Rich character of our County. They respectfully State as cattle can be gotten of the county, better than almost anything else, in which they could spend their capital or employ their time, that many cattle are annually raisen and drove from the County. That these vast herds of cattle live through the winter without being far from the Produce of the farm with the exception of a few days of Heavy snow and __ rains from the rich character of our hills fine grapes will soon upon them it is believed that no portion of the world would be better adapted to the growing of sheep as not much attention hath yet been paid to the growing of sheep there is no fine Breeds in the county yet our sheep are large and very thrifty. There is perhaps no county that can boast of finer growth of timber which now is and must continue to be in great demand upon the Ohio river and we have no doubt our County abounds with valuable minerals of many descriptions. There is every portion of in the county Rich and deep veins of Bituminous coal and several Banks of the Canal Coal have been found and doubtless the county is filled with it, this Coal above if it could be gotten to market would bring in a great resource of wealth.”

“Yet all of these vast resources are locked and remain valueless for the want of outlet or the means of getting them to market and the necessaries of Life brought to the county for Sale owing to the obstruction of the navigation of the Guyandotte river, and taxed something like one cent on the Pound, this on ___ coffee, nails, Tobacco &c, operates verry __ the Guyandotte River is here. Great chance of communication–the articles of salt may be brought across the county from Kanawha But almost everything else must and __ be Brought up the river and there is no other Possible __ of getting out with our lumber and coal and wool and other products.”

The petition hopes the “Honorable Body” will “appropriate a sufficient sum of money together with what may be raised By individuals to remove the obstructions of the navigation of said river By the ___ upheavals and the Flat Boat and Rafts Downwards at the proper stages of the tide.”

Some signatures of interest to me (there were many others):

Ralf Lucas

Burbus Toney

Henry Conley

Corbon Bryant

Squire Toney

Francis Browning

James Bailey

William E. Browning

Andrew Elkins

H.S. Dingess

William Farley

Henderson Dingess

Jefferson Thompson

William Toney

David Dingess

Source: Library of Virginia, General Assembly Legislative Petitions, Logan County, Reel 111,” located at the WV State Archives.

Wyoming County Museum in Oceana, WV (2019)

25 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in Coal, Timber, Wyoming County

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The Wyoming County Museum located in Oceana, WV, is one of the region’s best museums…and one of America’s greatest small town museums. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Here is a link to the museum website: https://wyomingcountymuseum.webs.com/

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Top object: “Cross cut saw, 1938: This saw was used to cut the mine timber used to construct the Koppers mine in Kopperston, WV, in 1938.” Bottom object: “Antique plane, circa late 1890s to early 1900s: This plane, manufactured by the Chapin Stephens Co., was used to flatten and impact a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber.” 29 October 2019

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Logging tools, including a chain dog. 29 October 2019

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“Ritter railroad spike: Railroad spike from the old Ritter railroad which ran through Oceana and was used to transport timber.” 29 October 2019

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29 October 2019

Ethel, Logan County, WV (2020)

11 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Huntington, Italian American History

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In the 1890s, land speculators James L. Caldwell, a banker from Huntington, C.W. Campbell, an attorney from Huntington, and John Q. Dickinson, a banker from Charleston, acquired many acres of land on Dingess Run and Rum Creek. The trio procured some of Logan County’s finest coal lands with six accessible seams of coal. They formed the Dingess-Rum Coal Company in June of 1903 to administer their lands, which totaled over 26,000 acres. They surveyed a railroad bed up Dingess Run and laid the cross-ties, leaving only the rails to be laid by the C&O Railroad, which occurred by late 1906. From there, the railroad extended up Right Fork and Left Fork (Ethel Hollow). At the juncture of the two forks, the company town of Ethel, named for the daughter or wife of an early coal operator, was established around 1907. In 1923, the town was populated by 2000 residents.

Ethel was originally located at the mouth of Left Fork (now Ethel Hollow) of Dingess Run. Today, Ethel includes Camp Branch, Freeze Fork (town and stream), Rockcamp Branch, Rockhouse Branch (now Georges Creek), Mash Branch (formerly Wanda), and Bearwallow Branch (formerly Red Campbell). It is situated at the base of Blair Mountain.

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Ethel Coal Company Supply Building, constructed about 1914 by Italian stonemasons. The building served as a staging area for Don Chafin’s defensive forces in the Battle of Blair Mountain. 1 March 2020

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Remnants of Ethel No. 1 Company Store, built between 1907 and 1916. 1 March 2020

Chapmanville News 05.05.1922

15 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by in Big Creek, Chapmanville, Coal, Huntington, Logan, Stone Branch

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A correspondent named “Uncle Joe” from Chapmanville in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on May 5, 1922:

We are still having fair days and cool nights.

Miss Ruby Wagner has returned from the hospital at Huntington and is getting along nicely.

Mr. Oscar Langdon has left our town for Cincinnati.

Miss Alma Wagner looked lonesome Sunday. Where was L.T., Alma?

We wonder where they go when they take a ride here?

We saw two sweet gigglers out promenading all alone Sunday. Where were the boys?

Bug makes several trips to town during the day, but what does he care, for he gets his rides free.

Miss Eunice Ward and Mr. Hobert Spurlock were at the show Saturday night.

Miss Queeney Conley was shopping in town this week.

Some of the young folks were calling on Miss Clee Conley and thought they were on a merry go round.

Every person is always anxious to know who sends in the news. We wonder, who sent this?

Still more improvements and better wages at the mines here. You ought to make good money, boys.

When is Rev. Langdon going to preach for us again? It seems a long time between times.

Did we see Miss Maud Garrett and Mr. Wilbart Langdon out walking Sunday, or was it just imagination?

You’re not in style in our town unless you have a gray cap.

Mr. Roy Hager, of Big Creek, was calling on Miss Ida Butcher Sunday.

The handsomest man of Chapmanville has gone to work.

Mrs. Levy Hensley and daughter have returned to their home at Chapmanville after a short visit at Stone Branch.

Anna Justice, Hattie Clay and Mazie Bates were calling on Lola and Wanda Ferrell Sunday.

Mrs. Nettie Pauley was visiting relatives in this town Sunday.

Mr. Morgan Garrett has gone to work in Logan.