Summary: The Italian Hall Disaster

If people are greedy with their money they can ruin many families and friends. According to the document, People’s World by John Dick, explains the tragic events that took place in the copper mining town of Calumet. This was a time of strikes, workers fighting for better pay, shorter work days, safer working conditions, and union recognition. The strikes slowly led to the bulk of the Italian Hall disaster. The disaster killed many and angered many. Most to all of the miners and their families died by being crushed between people. The Italian Hall disaster resulted in the conflict between miners and the owners of the mines. Mining in Michigan was important to society, but it affected strikers and the owners differently. Considering this, strikers …show more content…
Miners would get sick or die from the lack of vitamin D and the dust from chopping at the rocks. All ill miners would continue working long days even though they were in harsh condition. Strikers didn’t have such a great life. 25,000 miners were making less than a dollar a day. They could not support their families with that kind of money. The strikers also had the problem of not knowing what the owners were saying because most of them didn’t speak English. New miners coming to Calumet often wouldn’t know there was a strike because they didn’t speak English. However, owners of the mines were too worried about the money and the production of their mines, they didn’t care about their workers conditions. Truthfully, in the book Death's Door from Momentum Books one of the owners, McNaughton expresses, “ I am convinced that the situation will become worse and will result in great destruction of property and possible loss of life, unless I receive the aid of State troops” (Lehto72). McNaughton expresses the thought of the destruction of his mine property and the loss of his miners. Instead of State troops he had the National Guard come to the town of Calumet and