The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-01-24
TIL e MINER.
THE TROUBLE IN sCUYLKILL CO
Rs,ie~ OF the Situation b, President sine,.

aware If the trouble that has been pending
for some time past between the President
II the T. a. Il. Il. and the wurkingmen
employed 10 and about the mines IN this
open hostlIues have this day commenced
between the President of that company
and the men, and | know not when or
where they will end. We have done every
thing within our power in keeping with our
honor and our manhood q avert TINS
calamity l SAY calamity. ~ lt VIII rs 'iie
caus, " briu.tr. want to the door OF thou
sands ~ utir fclIa,, men, and with this fact
before us'ue have tued c. avoid an issue.
II appears chat uuthiu. but total surren-
d,r " manhood ana independence viii
satisfy the wishes of the President Of this
mammoth corporation And propose 10
lay the facts boo Oh. ,tsr as they really exist
before you, 5.J through your instrument
tehty before ,h. Intelligent citizens q the
west, tur think b cannot get too much
publicity
luu rr,,I.yyt the great lock out IN this
State ia thy year 1871, when the companies
controlling the anthracite region Of this
stat, threw INT Of employment over loO,-
900 vurkmmen. The triumph Of the
companies ia that occasion over the peppi,
rl,i t,. iur has So encouraged them that
they seem N think that everybody must
bow their head a. their shadows as they
pass by. Since the above period there has
been a close alliance formed, OF. as con
splracy rather % would be termed, could
Ny ana should we attempt the like we
would be denounced as a band OF conspira-
tors and prosecuted as such The subject
ot their combination IS the controlling Of
the coal trade and ths sublugation Of the
people Much has been said against the
miners for putting up the price Of coal to
the consumer As coal advances III price il
Is supposed that We. the miners, .et 4 Ger
tain proportion of the advance But for
the last two years We have had no say ia
the coal trade But the Delaware and
Hudson Canal Company, Delaware ). and
Western COMPANY Piston Coal Company,
7. X. 4. +. 4. l. Company, ana i'll fact all
the companies the above are the great
lights have entered INTO a combination for
the purpose of regulating the supply and
the prices az coal.
Since the formation Of the above combi-
nation they have succeeded in annihiatng
every spark Of manhood that was III the
men, unless what remained III the men IF
Schuylklll and the Lehigh region. BY
these means the companies have been able
to take advantage Of the financial crisis Of
the country, reducing the wages Of the
men, and III every other way depressing
and degrading them.
IL Is admitted by every gentleman in the
coal business. and every business man who
knows anything OF the coal trade at all,
that the last two years and particularly the
year 15, haye been the best for the coal
trade that they have seen III a number Of
years. The price IF coal has been on the
advance for some time. So much so that
the panic has never been felt by our men,
comparatively speaking.
Great stress Is laid on the earnings Of
the men ana 1t hight be well for me to
state few facts. After the coal is mined,
prepared, Tut IN the railway cars, and
hauled To- certain shipping point, known
As Port Carbon. Ii IL should at that point
average - % Ter ton, the men ars paid
the following prices
A miner when working for the company
by the day receives -. rs. ana laborer
inside III nine receives 81 Sd, and a la
borer working outside receives 81 So.
Mark you, this Is for fully ten hours work.
and they must be men that are able and
willing to 90 days labor, or else they
cannot get that amount. Particular stress
Is laid on the miners that work by con
tract. And ! leave you or any other man
that knows anything about work to Judge
Of the difference between the earnings Of
men working by the day and working by
piece work
1t Is said that some ~ our miners earn a
SlOO or Sl25 per month, which might by
chance sometimes happen but they forget
TO tell us that there Is some months pre-
vlOus to and after such occasions that the
same men scarcely earn enough u pay
their expenses, without bringing dollar
home to their families They also forget
TO tell the consumers that these men they
refer to 20 INTO the face of "A crushed pillar
on many occasions when the rock and coal.
some p or 80 feet above them, is tricklin5
and dropping all around them, not know
ing the moment that they would he
launched into eternity Neither could
their employers be induced to q into the
same places on any account No amount
Of money could tempt them in. The COM
panies and our employers generally have
bosses or superintendent ~ their own
choice % look after. their works and their
workmen, who are supposed to be practical,
kxb Attfr - f,,u
that the work is properly done. and that
the men do not get the best of them in
making a contract. The bosses have to
hold out inducements to get men to 90 into
such places as above. referred to. Mark
you, the more coal that these mel dig, the
more money his employers make off him
1t is a mistaken idea Of the consumer to
think that the getting of this large amount,
If such he 'ss-e case, is injurious to them. If
two miners 60 into breast or chamber to
dig coal, IT may pitch from 90 to 60 degrees,
and the coal from 20 to 30 feet thick
Their place has got to be worked from 10
to IL yards wide, for which from 80 to so |
for every running yard on the pillar, and
not as supposed by the ton. What | mean
by the yard These men dig 834 cubic
yards Of coal for SO or, in other words,
S3B tons, out Of which the miner has to
lind his oil, cotton, paper, powder and
tools, on which the company clears from
20 cents to 81 on every key of powder they
sell. But IN flat VEINS it costs our employ |
ers considerably more to get out the coal
deem It proper at this time to make this |
explanation, IN order that you can see the |
amount OF compensation the miner receives
for the amount Of labor he performs
The company not satisfied with this state
Of affairs, they undertake to reduce the
mems wages, and annihilate the organize
ton, believing that if they succeeded in
breaking 1t up (the miners organization is
legally recognized by the law of our State,
as their charters shnMl that theu will be