John Diamantis, 1974-07-28, Interview - MP3 Recording

Segment Synopsis: Arriving from Greece in 1909, John lived two months in
New York, then came to Spokane and worked on a
railroad extra gang. The extra gang was hard work and
paid 15 cents an hour. He began working in the Elk River mill
in 1911 at whatever job he could get because he had no
experience. From the close of the mill in 1930 to 1950
he worked in the woods.

Segment Synopsis: The winter of 1912 there was nine feet of snow at the
depot. His Greek extra gang had to work exactly as the
foreman said; the foreman fired the whole gang and
replaced them with Yugoslavians.

Segment Synopsis: When the mill closed down, Potlatch dismantled many
Elk River homes and piled the fixtures outdoors at
Potlatch, where they rusted.

Segment Synopsis: John moved to Spokane after he retired in 1952 because
Elk River had no medical facilities for his wife. Mr.
Morris explained that the drugstore couldn't afford to
handle prescription drugs. John built a home in Spokane
Valley with many kinds of fruit, but it became too much
to care for.

Segment Synopsis: Nearly all the men at the Elk River mill had IWW cards.
When a strike meeting was called at the mill, Superintendent
Bloom told the men that those who struck would be fired
and that IWW was Russian propaganda. So the men went
back to work, but no lumber came to the mill from the
woods.

Segment Synopsis: Eight hour day and good conditions caused by IWW. John
told nobody that he had a card. The man selling cards,
George Manus, was fired; he moved to Spokane and got
wealthy from drinking and gambling business.

Segment Synopsis: U.S. is the best country. Most Greeks scattered from the
Northwest, to the East or back to Europe. The U.S. was
the worst country to work in in early 1900's; thousands of
immigrants a day made cheap labor. Coolidge opened the
country some, but Hoover wasn't good.

Segment Synopsis: Lumberjacks drank too much, played poker in the camps
and were mostly single. A man who deserted his family
because of drink; the son drank too.