Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 280, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1919 — LETTER TO A COAL MINER. [ARTICLE]

LETTER TO A COAL MINER.

Tipton, la., Nov. 19.— [Editor of The Tribune.] —I live out on the prairie forty miles from nowhere. Talk about being a lone worker in a coal mine! I worked all day in the boiling hot sun and half the night to raise and harvest food to keep your wife and babies from starving. My good wife worked with me when she was able, helped me care for the live stock and milked the cows evenings so I could work longer in the fields to help feed you and yours. I did not even take a day off during the busy season to haul my coal from town lest some of your food be wasted. When I thought to make a big profit on my Wheat our Uncle Samuel comes along and fixes the pri<:e and I take my medicine. No talk about autocracy or class legislation or an eight-hour day. It was my duty to my country, etc. Now, Mr. Coal Miner, the cold wave is upon us. My wife is confined to her bed, and please remember it is just as hard for me to watch my wife and babies freeze or die from the cold as for you to watch yours die from hunger. Talking of hardships in this life of ours, such as being deprived of fresh air and sunshine in a coal mine, I would indeed welcome a little of your coal mine shade during the harvest and your shelter from the winter’s blasts when during a blizzard I am trying to get your food to market and haul home a load of coal, if it were possible for me to get any, which is not the case at the present writing. And how many times I have envied you your short hours when after a hard day’s work I had to sit up all night with the live stock. You wouldn’t last half as long in a western blizzard ae I would in an eastern coal mine. - But I ’ have a good come back. My corn is still in the crib. I can use it to better advantage for fuel than you can use your coal for food. Ido not say what I will do, it’s against the law of ' our land ।to burn foodstuff. But if it comes to the “survival of the fittest,” we can all take a hand. Still trusting that you will see your error and go to work to get me some coal before I am forced to burn up your food, I am your truly, FARMER JOHN.