Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-05-19
LEAUGED LABOR.
A General Strike all Over the
Country Predictsd.
Five Thousand Men Still out at Cleveland
The Csal Miners Still Stick 10 Their
Demand-4o,0 900 to $4,000
Men Involved,
EMPLOYERS VIEWS ON THE SITUATION.

CLEVELAND, o.. May lS-A Cleveland
dispatch says: It looks as if there viii
soon be serious trouble between employer.
and employed throughout the country
Following close upon the strike OF 500
men employed in the Cleveland Rollins
Mills, all of the miners in the Salineyills
and Tuscarawas valley districts; about 4,Oot
men in all, walked ont to-day, their de
mand for an increase of ten cents per ton
having been denied by the operators
Thomas AKworth, one of the most exten
siye operators in the West, said to {
correspondent to-day that this was the
result OF the meddling: of the officers
of the union at Pittsburg, and probably
only the forerunner of a general strike
and said he
s.SOme lie, e,0000r20lO0e'
men employed in the Pittsburg district are
out, and the 5000 who are in the mines to
day are working under an agreepent that
they shall be paid whatever rates are deter
mined upon as q result OF the strike. Pitts
burg being the centre OF the coal industry
ton, the unions are making every effort to
carry their point, and to that end are agita-
ting the surrounding country. The union
agitators, through personal presence, eft.
fected the Safineville and Tuscarawas
strike, and are now in the Coshocton,
Straitsville and Hooking Valley districts,
and private advices from that territory in
dicate that the result will be a general
strike in that locality. These three dis
tricts employ
10000 to 90. 900 Men.
and if these men 60 out all other miners in
smaller districts will probably follow"
Regarding the result Of such strike Mr..
AxswOrth said that the miners could not
choose a worse time than the present to
accomplish their aim, nor a more conven-
lent time for the operators. The surplus
on hand is such that, al this season of the
year, a strike of two or three months du-
ration could be weathered by the opera
tors without any serious consequences to
themselves or consumers. At this time,
with the present glutted condition
of the market. operators could not grant
any advance, even if inclined to allow the
uniens to dictate at time when their
grievances are only imaginary, and conse-
quently the question of q strike depends
entirely on the action of the miners They
are now being paid old war time wages,
and if not satisfied with that they will pro.
pably have to take worse. Charles Holland,
another prominent coal dealer here who has
been looking into the prospects showed the
correspondent, to-day, letters from the
Hooking Valley, Straitsville, Coshocton and
Massillon districts, stating that
Avery Uneasy Feeling IL Manifest
among the miners, and operators were an
ticipating strike at an early date, espec-
tally if anything should occur to precipi.
tate the controversy. These letters all
ante.date the strikes in the Salineville and
Tuscarawas districts, and therein pretext
will probably be found. Should strike
follow, said Mr.. Holland, operators will not
fail to take advantage of the situation and
take aggressive measures to check the
union and teach it a much-needed
lesson to prevent such unreason-
able intrusion. The most bit
ter and determined warfare and
the union, however, is being inaugurated
by the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company,
backed, as your correspondent has reason
to believe, by the mills of the country in
general. A prominent iron merchant,
whose social and business relations to Mr..
Henry Chisholm, president OF the rolling
mills, are such that the statement may be
Cleveland rolling mills would
Never be Started Again
except on terms entirely satisfactory to the
company and without regard to the wishes
or demands of the unions. All the circum-
tantial eyidence, goes TO corro6arate TINS
opinion. Everything has been prepared
for a long lock out. The polished parts
of all the machinery have been cov-
cred with a coat of paint to preserve
the iron from rust. All the betting
has been removed, presumably to prevent
its being cut, and all the indications point
TO one cOnclusion-that the proprietors and
managers Of the mill intend to remain so
in practice as we'll as theory. As TO the
scale which precipitated the rike, your
correspondent finds that while the Cleye.
land papers have published the scale on
which the demands are alleged TO have
been based, they made aludicorous blunder.
The scale published was the Pittsburgh iron
scale, and is in no way connected with the
manufacture OF steel. There is no regular
scale among steel workers The scale over
which the present controversy arose is be-
lieved to be one which ~as prepared for this
particular case at the diction OF
The AmaIgamated Association.
Nothing positive can be learned, however,
as the scala was returned to the unions,
from whom nothing can be learned. The
scale. however, is not the real bone oil con-
tention; this is whether or not the Anal
gamated Association shall be allowed TO
dictate TO the management Of the mills.
The disastrous strike among the iron and
steel workers year ago was brought about
by the unions, and proved severe lesson
TO the manufacturers. who, realizing that
something must be done to check the unions,
have virtually leagued together and form
ed close alliance for the purpose.
Those in Cleveland being next to the largest
works Of the kind in the United States and
the most wealthy OF all, were selected TO
lead in the battle, and the information oi
were shut down from time 10 time until
the unions will find
The W olf at the Deer
and be ready to curtail their demands. The
present scale in the bar and rod mills oi
the country expires June |, and the propri
etors claim they cannot afford to sign even
the same scale the ensuing year
and, as the unions are expected
to demand an advance, trouble with
them is expected. The anticipated
trouble has caused notable trmness IN ths
iron markets Of the West, and much un
easiness IS manifested by all the deale
and manufacturers g. 70 the eEsuLs
strikes The only onas that has previously
occurred in these mills which can in an,
way approach the pressat one in magni
tude was the famous big strike OF 1864
when the puddlers, a large numher 0
whom were then. working in the mills
wen. out on q refusal Of their demacd 10
| an advance. In. that fight the canpan.
won. 49, -