Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/607

* MINERS. 543 MINERVA. covert'd by the Federation is divided. The execu- tive board acts as a board of conciliation and arbitration (which are strongly recommended by the Federation), may levy assessments in case of emergency, must apjjrove every strike and joint contract entered into by local unions, and l)etvecn the annual conventions has full power to direct the workings of the Federation. The Western Federation of Miners ollicially indorses socialism and advocates participation of labor organizations in politics with the view of se- curing to the working classes the ownership and operation of the means of production. It was founded Alay 15, 180.3, largely as an outcome of the notorious Ca?ur d'Al&ne strike of 1802. In April, 1800, it again liccame involved in the Canir d'Al&ne strike of that year and in the later period of the strike contnjlled and directed it. During this eontlict .=everal per- Mins were killed, martial law was declared, and certain county ofliccrs were impeached for failure to perform their duties in suppressing violence. A large number of miners were arrested by the temporary authorities and im])risoned in a stock- ade known as the 'bull pen.' Persons desirous of securing work in the mines at that time were forced to obtain a permit, which was issued only after the applicant had signed a statement deny- ing tlint he iiad participated in the riot of April •JOth, declaring his belief that it was incited and perpetrated by the miners' unions, expressing disa])proval of the riot, renouncing membership in the miners' -union, and pledging himself there- after to obey tlie law. There are at present 189 unions affiliated with the Western Federation, tlie aggregate memliership of which is officially I'^tiniated at .iO.OOO persons, residing almost ex- clusively in Canada and the States west of the Mississippi River. It is affiliated with the Amer- ican Labor Union. The official organ is the Miiirrs' Mogri:inc, published monthly at Den- ver, Col. MI'NERSVILLE. A borough in Schuylkill County, Pa., four miles west of Pottsville, with which it is connected by an electric road; on the west branch of the Schuylkill River, and on the Lehigh Valley, the Philadelphia and Reading, and a branch of the Pennsylvania railroads (Map: Pennsylvania, E 3). It is in the anthra- cite region, and has extensive coal-mining inter- ests, besides several factories. Population, in 1800. .3504: in 1900, 4815. MINEE'VA (Old Lat. Mcnerva, from root in )»r».«. Skt. ni'in-, Gk. p^Kos. mritos, strength). A Rnnuin goddess identified with the Greek .THEX.. Though the two divinities have some resemblance, it will be best to treat them sepa- rately. Greek. Athena was a vmiversally worshiped Hellenic divinity, and there is no satisfactory evidence of a foreign origin for her cult. In the earliest literature, we find Athena already a f>dly developed personality, the favorite daugh- ter of Zeus, wielder at times of his srgis, and but little inferior to him in power. In general the goddess was warlike. ITence she was wor- shiped in the citadel of many towns, and her sacred images, the Palladia, which were often said to have fallen from heaven, were kept with great care, for their possession made the town impregnable. She is not, however, connected with the mere lust of battle, but with military wisdom and patient .strategj- as well as with heroic prowess in actual eontlict. Wisdom is, in fact, so prominent in the conception that later she be- came the patron of learning. Kven in early times she is Krgane, the goddess of crafts, espe- cially the peculiarly feminine occupations of spin- ning and weaving, which ma_v have arisen from the custom of weaving for the statue of the god- dess a peplus or mantle. Athena was also the goddess of smiths, and oven of agriculture, so that at Athens the smiths and potters celebrated the Chalkeia, as a joint festival of llcphiestus and Athena. As a battle goddess, she was wor- shiped at Athens as Athene Xike, bearing the spear and shield, and wearing the a'gis, which is commonly adorned with the Gorgon's liead, of petrifying jjower. She also carries the spindle as Ergane, and a pomegranate as Nike. Sacred to her were also the snake and the owl, and especial- ly the olive, w-hich she was said to have given to Athens, her favorite city. In the Greek belief she was the pure virgin, but there are plain traces that this was not original. Athens is for us the great centre of Athena worship, and here there were two ancient shrines, the Palladium in the lower town, the seat of an ancient court for the trial of involuntary homi- cide, and the Acropolis, where were the house of Erechtheus and the shrine of the Polias. Here was an ancient temple, burned by the Persians, but possibly rebuilt at least in part. Close to its site was built, near the end of the fifth cen- tury, the somewhat complicated Erechtheum (q.v.), and earlier (n.c. 4.37) the Acropolis was crowned by the magnificent Parthenon (q.v.), containing the gold-ivory statue of the goddess by Phidias. In her honor were celebrated the PanathenEca, and other smaller festivals, at some of which m3-stic rites were prominent. According to the common legend she was born from the head of Zeus, who produced her by his own power. Other versions told how Zeus had swallowed Metis (Wisdom) when pregnant by him of Athena. In the fullness of time Hephaestus or Prometheus or Hermes, to relieve the pains in the head of Zeus, sjjlit it with an axe, whereupon the goddess leaped forth full-armed — a scene fre- quent in the earlier vases. The nature of Athena is still a matter of dispute, but there is much in favor of the view that she is a goddess of the lightning. RoM.N. Minerva seems to be an old Italian goddess, whose worship was also common in Etruria, but who was not originally one of the leading Roman divinities, for her name is absent from the oldest religious calendars. When the worship was introduced is not known, but it was certainly early, for Minerva is one of the Capi- toline triad, and had also an ancient temple on the Aventine, which was the religious centre for the guilds of craftsmen, as whose patron the goddess appears. The festival of this temple was celebrated on starch 10th, the fifth day after the Ides (whence the name Quinquatrus), and seems to have formed originally i)nrt of a festi- val of Mars. It was chiefly celebrated by the guilds, including physicians (whence was wor- shiped a Minerva Medica), and was of a dis- tinctly iiojiular character. On the Capitol Mi- nerva appears in her Greek aspect as protector of the city, but this and her worship as a goddess of battle or victory seem due entirely to foreign influence. In the later Republic and the Empire,