Matewan

Damn!

Shootin' coal!

Shootin' coal!

Danny! What in god's name

are you doing?

I got a shot set up back there.

Word come down from Turley.

Tonnage rate?

They brung it down

to 90 cent a ton.

Down!?

Them dagoes are

holding fast in #3.

He says, "Take it or leave it."

Sephus, what we gonna do?

"Hit were 19 and 20

in the southwest field

and things was tough."

"The miners was trying to bring

the union to West Virginia...

and the coal operators and their

gun thugs was set on keeping 'em out."

"Them was hand loadin' days, they

paid you by the ton and they didn't

care no more for a man than

they done for a draft mule."

Them was hard people, your

coalminers then.

They wudn't nobody

you wanted to cross."

"So push come to shove and pretty

soon we had us a war down there

in Mingo County,

which in them days

was known as 'bloody Mingo'."

"And that's where it all came

to a head, there on Tug Fork,

in the town of Matewan."

We done it Mama,

we're gonna have the union!

- Just gotta stop for a little repairs.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

- They shifted Italians in, right off the boat,

so they're still bring coal outa there.

I'd sure hate to get

a whiff of that mine.

What the hell we stopping for?

Step down gentleman, this

here'll be your new home.

How come we ain't

getting off in town?

- Just get in line.

I'n gonna kill him!, kill him!

Get on the train! Get on!

C'mon, Bill!

Come on! Come on, Bill!

Gimme your hand, man.

- Git out of here!

When do we get to Matewan?

- You don't want to go there mister,

ain't nothing but crazy people.

Hi

Hi

Everybody was here,

then they got word

and they gone on

up the line a ways.

Some kind of union bizness.

Yeah, I saw.

- You best steer clear of it.

My name's Bridey Mae Tolliver.

Uh, Joe Kenehan.

Uh, you know

Radnor's Boarding House?

- Big white house.

Right on past the coal dock,

she's a real sourpuss, though...

Elma Radnor.

Thank you.

You gonna be in town long?

It depends.

I'll see you around.

I hope so.

- These picks and shovels

are to be considered a loan

from the Stone Mountain Coal Company.

Their costs will be deducted

from you first month's pay.

Tool-sharpeners provided by the

company's 25 cents a month.

Use of the wash house

is 75 cents a month.

Medical doctor provided by the company

is 2 dollars a month,

special procedures extra.

Your train ride here provided

by the company will be deducted

from your first month's pay.

Your pay will be

issued as company script,

redeemable for all goods and services

at the Stone Mountain

Company Store.

Purchases of any items available

at the Company Store

from outside merchants will

result in firing without pay.

- What's to keep y'all

from jacking up them

prices at your store?

Name?

Johnson, they calls me

'Few Clothes'.

Powder, fuses, lamps, head gear

and all appropriate clothing will be

available at the Company Store,

and Stone Mountain will

generously advance you a month's

supply of these items,

payment to be deducted.

I'm going to take you over

to camp now where you'll be livin'.

There's some Italian gentleman

that are very eager to meet you.

Rentals will be

for one room, 250 a month.

Company rule, no more than

two people to one room,

children included.

Electricity, where

that is feasible,

will be 1 dollar a month.

Mrs. Radnor?

Yes.

My name is Joe Kenehan.

I'm going to be

in town for a bit and

your place here was recommended.

What do you do?

Uh, I guess I'm looking for work.

You with the Company?

The company?

- If you ain't with the Company,

there ain't no work.

Look mister, don't act the lamb with me.

What's your business here?

- Mama!

- Mama, it's Hillard! Them scabs

done it, up the line a mile...

They was all coloured this time,

they bust his nose!

You got any ice?

- Some in the back.

Go fetch me two chunks about this big

and a piece of rag.

You a doctor?

- No, but I seen my share

of broken noses.

Now just put it up in the air, buddy,

just like your watching

the clouds.

We'll get that bleeding stopped.

I ga my liggid...

Say what?

- He said he got his licks in.

Seems to be all the men around here

care about, wives and kids are starving,

so long as they've

got their licks in...

It's just frustration, is all

when you can't take

care of them you care about.

I know, it ain't their fault.

Here you go.

This freezes up all

them little veins inside.

It's just so they close up and they

don't let any more blood out.

You a doctor?

No.

I'm just a guy

looking for a place to stay.

5 dollars a week cash.

That includes dinner and clean sheets.

Hope I'm not making a mistake.

Name is Joe Kenehan.

- Well, mostly I work

for the railroads, laying track.

Kansas, Missouri...

I went out west for a bit

and worked in a lumber camp.

A little of whatever

pays an honest dollar.

I'm a coalminer. At least

until we come out I was.

Had me over in section 3.

I was a trapper boy.

Ain't you a little young?

- I'm almost 15.

There are some in there

younger than me.

Of course with the strike now

I work mostly on

running this place.

I help a little, don't I?

It's gonna be a long one.

That superintendent

at Stone Mountain he said

he'd go broke before he let

one union sumbitch so much as step

into his coalmine.

- Danny...

Sorry, ma'am, but

that's what he said.

Daniel is a preacher.

- Is that so?

- You ought to hear him testify.

What church you with?

Well, round here there's

the missionary folk... they's

Hardshell Baptists and then

there's the free will folks which is

your Softshell Baptists.

Right now I preach for both.

I'll get it.

Daniel is gonna preach tonight

over at the missionary.

I never was religious myself.

It's Sephus, mama.

Hello, Elma...

Mrs. Knightes

- Hello, Sephus.

I come to have a word

with your new boarder,

if he don't mind.

Excuse me.

Claims he's the fella

the union sent us.

Can you prove it?

Don't take nothing to have

a card printed up.

I guess you'll just have

to trust me.

Who wrote "The Iron Hill"?

Jack London

- Where's Joe Hill buried at?

All over the world.

They scattered his ashes.

Which eye is

Big Bill Hayward missing?

His right one.

- How did Frank Little die?

Butte, Montana. They hung him

from a railroad trestle.

You know your stuff.

I was with the Wobbley's.

- Me too,

back when it meant something.

One big union.

- Not around here buddy.

C.E. Lively...

this is my restaurant.

Fellas are waitin'.

They don't give a damn whether

we live or die

just so long as they get the

coal out of the ground.

They had us pulling pillars and

the roof was working, you know

like it does before it's going

to fall down.

If I say I ain't dying in here

and walk away

they'll put me down in some damn

puddle in a 2 foot seam

and no air to breathe...

a man can't mine coal that way.

They're just pushing us further

than we can go.

- The check wayman he'll take 50

pound off your load for slate

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