"Scab Teachers"

Last May the 117 public teachers of Old Forge, Pa. (pop. 16,000), hard-coal town four miles south of Scranton, had gone seven and one-half months without pay. Decrying the school board's failure to seek State aid, 97 Old Forge teachers organized, struck. The school board then got some cash from the State on a promise of economy. Its economy consisted of firing 29 striking teachers, hiring 24 new ones to take their places.

Last week came the day to open Old Forge schools for another year. Almost the only teachers to show up at school were the 24 newcomers. "Scab teachers!" growled miner fathers, and kept their children home. "Scab teachers!" shrilled miner mothers as they rushed out to pull hair, scratch faces. "Scab students!'' yelled football players, happily pummeling nonstriking pupils. Up & down the streets marched strikers and sympathizers with flying banners:

"Don't let your children be taught by scabs!"

With two schools closed and the rest almost empty, State police occupied the town, forbade street gatherings. Citizens promptly bunched in front yards near the schools, kept up their yelping. But as the week ended the tide turned strongly against the strikers. A State court held that in firing & hiring the board had acted strictly within its rights, denied a petition to oust its majority members.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.