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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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realize for some time that it was a wooden copy of a tomb they had contracted for. They had got the local carpenters, painters and what have you to work all night for two nights getting that thing up, so that there would be a proper tomb to receive John Mitchell, the great friend of labor. It was this great, magnificent mausoleum, which later was erected in solid granite stone.

As we drove out there we went through Scranton and through that part where the town was falling into the mines. There had been several slides. Several houses had fallen in. It was pointed out to me that one of the things that John Mitchell had warned the owners about years ago was that they were leaving the pillars too small and mining too close to the surface. The arches would stand the weight and with building on top of it there would be cave ins. There had been a great many cave ins. He was a Good Miner, remember. The town at that moment looked terribly disheveled because there had been recent cave ins within the last couple of months. That was very sad. There was great debate over the cemetery which was also over a great mining operation. Some of the United Mine Workers were worried about that. Perhaps this wasn't a safe burial place for him. But apparently it had been agreed upon after investigation that this was the right thing to do.





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