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Waln Brown interviewing Clifford Falatko -7- 8/20/72
Tape 5-1
CF Very few that had boarders in them days my mother would have to keep the
boarders on top of us yet.
WB In your family that's the truth with that many children. Did you get caught up
in the strikes here, there were 2 strikes in Eckley weren't there?
CF Sure there were strikes.
WB What happened when there were strikes, and the men weren't working what did they do to make some money?
CF Well nothin' what could you do, there was nothin' to do only go for coal but you
weren't allowed to go for coal no palce, just cops, guards watchin' around the
breakers with where there were slopes they were fenced and they had guards
the company had, you wasn't allowed to go close to the mines during the strike.
WB Was that the Coal and Iron Police?
CF Yeh, yeh, yeh.
WB And they had a fance all around the mines and
CF Mostly, especially around the breaker here the ( ) all around.
WB And what happened if they caught somebody?
CF I guess they'd have you arrested, I don't remember that.
WB I just wondered if any of them beat up any people, like that or shot any one?
CF No it wasn't that wild around here, they was no niggers or strange people they
were mostly, in town they said there were, no matter what kind they were
Polish, Slavish, Greek or Dutch and Irish ( ) like one family they were
all workin' together.
WB I was talking about the Coal and Iron Police they didn't bother nobody if some-
one saw that someone was taking some coal, what would they do, would they throw
them in jail?
CF I don't think so, I don't remember that, they never done that.
WB Did they have many police here while the strike was on?
CF Not many, now and then they had especially around the slope that was goin'
in the mine, if they were going in the mines to do some damage, dynamite or
somethin' but not much outside.
WB Maybe 5 or 6 of them in the whole town?
CF There were some at the slope here.
WB So they'd keep a man or two at each slope so no one could get down in there and
do anything, but didn't some of the men do something to make some money if it
was a 6 month strike?
CF Well some of then was old enough that they could go in the woods and pick huckle-
berries and then how long does huckleberries last, that's all they could do
mostly they couldn't do nothin' else.
WB Didn't some of the men go and work for the farmers around here?
CF I don't remember, maybe some, I don't think so.
WB I guess the men mostly loafed around the house.
CF That's all, playin' cards and shootin' these, whether it was a 6 month strike
a 4 month or a 2 month strike no matter how long it last, they didn't do nothin'
WB I guess they got on their wives nerves?
CF THe wives had to help anyhow, no there wasn't too much trouble.
WB Were there certain chores the men had, like did they do anything with the
gardening or was that all the children that worked in the gardens?
CF No the old man used to go, they helped, they dug the gardens. Remeber every-
body had gardens planted not like we had no grass no place, you could pick it
with one fist, all everything's planted when we came here in the house 17 yrs.
no 15 yrs ago, well this garden from this shanty up to this house was in the
back the government planted potatoes the whole garden was planted with potatoes
we didn't touch it, we didn't plant it we didn't plow it we didn't dig them,
the government guys dug them out and spill them on a pile for us we didn't have
to do a thing.