STRIKE AT GORDON’S MINE 237 
July morning that the men had struck work. 
Gordon did not understand the reason of it, but 
he expressed himself as being heartily glad, for 
financial reasons, that the men had gone out. 
He had more than enough coal on the surface 
and in cars to supply the demand for the next 
three months, and it would be money in his 
pocket to dispose of his coal without having to 
pay for the labor of replacing it. 
During the day the reason for the strike was 
announced. From the establishment of the 
mine it had been the custom for the miners to 
have their tools sharpened at a shop built and 
run by the property. This was done for the 
accommodation of the men, and the charge for 
keeping the tools sharp was ten cents a week 
for each man, or $5 a year. For twenty years 
no fault had been found with the arrange- 
ment; it had been looked upon as satisfactory, 
especially by the men. A walking delegate, 
mousing around the mine, and finding no other 
cause for complaint, had lighted upon this prac- 
tice, and he told the men it was a shame that 
they should have to pay ten cents a week out of 
their hard-earned wages for keeping their tools 
sharp. He said that it was the business of the 
property to keep the tools sharp, and that the 
men should not be called upon to pay for that 
service; that they ought, in justice to themselves 
and for the dignity of associated labor, to de- 
mand that this onerous tax be removed; and, to 
