Unidentified Speaker, a presenter, told an audience that new searches of digitized 1884 newspapers illuminate how a wage cut and a contract forbidding union activity sparked the Hocking Valley coal strike and culminated in the Snake Hollow riot.

The presenter said mine operators in a syndicate — led in reports by the Columbus and Hocking Coal and Iron Company — announced a reduction from 70¢ to 50¢ per ton and required workers to sign an "ironclad" contract that barred unionizing and related activities. According to the presenter, contemporaneous accounts stressed the economic squeeze: adjusted for inflation, one example in the papers showed an annual income falling from about $11,100 to about $7,400 in today’s dollars, and miners typically supported families of five.

Drawing repeatedly on newspaper dispatches and an eyewitness named Barney Donnelly, the presenter described the night attack at Snake Hollow (late Aug. 31–early Sept. 1, 1884). Contemporary reports claimed 3,000 rioters; Donnelly and other eyewitnesses placed the attacking party much smaller — roughly 75–100 people. The presenter recounted that guards at the site were fired upon, and a local guard, William Hare (identified in some reports as William O'Hare), was killed. The presenter quoted a dispatch describing Hare as “heard to say, ‘for God's sake, gentlemen, have mercy,’ and was instantly shot dead.” Two other guards were described as wounded.

The presenter said telegraph lines were cut across the valley that night, delaying communication. Sheriff T.F. McCarthy reached a working telegraph in Buchtel and notified the governor about the attacks. Governor George Hoadley initially urged local authorities to exhaust their resources before calling in state aid, but after receiving further reports he ordered militia units — including the fourteenth regiment and several county companies — into the valley to protect life and property. The presenter said some contemporary editorials criticized Hoadley for vacillation while others praised his decision to hear miners before sending troops.

The talk also noted related incidents: the burning of a hopper at Mine Number 7 in New Straitsville, efforts by operators to import replacement workers and private security (Pinkertons), reports of Pinkertons committing killings in the weeks after the riot, accidental shootings among poorly trained militia guards, and the fatal shooting of telegraph operator William Collison by a guard who believed Collison intended to set a hopper alight. The presenter said no one was ultimately convicted for crimes related to the Snake Hollow riots and described an arrest (David Woody) that ended with his discharge amid claims of coerced confession and denial of counsel.

The presenter framed the strike’s end as effectively occurring when the Ohio Miners Amalgamated Association announced a statewide 10¢ wage reduction (to 50¢ per ton) on Feb. 1, which reduced inter‑regional strike support and led miners to return to work. He also linked the events to later labor developments, including legislation limiting company scrip and the growth of the United Mine Workers of America.

The presentation emphasized the value of searchable historic newspapers (Library of Congress Chronicling America) in reconstructing contemporaneous reactions and details that later oral histories might obscure. The presenter said research is ongoing and that the speaker and a partner have compiled a broader timeline of the strike that they plan to expand.

The presentation concluded by noting the long reach of the events — national press coverage, influence on elections and court cases, and changes in labor organizing — while stressing that the immediate human costs (deaths, injuries, displacement of miners by imported labor) were borne by local families.