Below is a Letter from A. Hardt, Mining Engineer, to John Lang, Vice President. I like this document. I think that it really just describes the time period, showing transportation, labor conflicts, and the connection of railroads in the 1880's.
One of the first things mentioned in this letter is the steamer which Hardt is taking when he goes on his trip. Railroads and steamship were really the main means of transportation in the 1880's as they were able to travel at speeds that before the industrial revolution people had never imagined. People were able to see parts of the world, that before they had just heard of in books and papers. I did a quick search for this steamer line in the New York Times Historical Newspaper database. The sources that came up were mainly about crashes and accidents that the Merchant and Miner's Line had, but I did find a few articles like the one to the right that discuss the new ship that was purchased. The culture of steam ships is awesome. I extended by search to look at other steamer travel lines and found so many newspapers that were published by travelers of the steamers discussing the talent on the ship and the new places that they had traveled by ship. Many of the articles discussed the luxury of ridding in the steamer, with the number of bathrooms, height of the ceilings, and the "famous" travel companions sharing the ride. The second paragraph of this letter discussed labor strikes!!!! Since this letter is written in May 1894 it can be assumed that Hardt is talking about the Bituminous Coal Miners Strike of 1894. In 1893, the US was in a serious depression and millions were unemployed, wages were slashed, and miners were cut to part time. The United Mine Workers convention which met on March 11, 1894, declared a nationwide strike. The aim of the strike was to end the coal glut and force the prices up allowing the operators to raise the wages to the old rates. These conditions forced the railroad and coal companies, and the other companies that demanded coal, to close. Also in this letter, lumber is discussed.Many of the documents that I am looking at deal with the lumber department of the Fall Brook Company, as lumber was one of the items shipped and sold by railroad. The Original Document |