Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1882-04-15

needed in market. So far the boat
men refuse TO move the boats at the
price offered, and it is doubtful wheth-
er that coal wi leave Cumberland un-
til the freight question is settled for
the season on the canal.
The miners strike is all the talk
here among the uninterested, who
say the miners are wrong in refusing
to work at the reduction. The gen.
eral impression through here is that
the miner goes in the mine and digs
all the coal that he has mind to in
in ten hours, and at so cents per ton,
he can make five dollars per day if he
would work, sc. If such was the
case the miner could and would glad
ly work for so cents per ton, but for
some unaccountable reason they do
not take the chance to work or dig
all they have mind to each day, and
the average is about half time. To
give those sore heads an idea of the
fortune miner makes out of his la.
Dor let them look at the miners sta
tistical report of wages for the year
l880-8l, which shows an average of
81. so per day for digging coal in the
Georges Greek region. From that
81. so per day deduct the enormous
rent, blacksmith bills, doctor bills,
subscription to orphans and widows,
cripples, &c. sum these items up and
the miner has not much left for dain-
ties and he, in his opinion, has good
grounds to refuse to work at the re-
duction.
The me case with the boatman.
He gets dollar per ton to ship coal
from Cumberland to Washington.
He can make trip in ten days and
haul ITO tons at load. That would
be $ll0. An inexperienced man
would say-"Why, that is big wages
$40 in ten days; that would be
$3.50 per month" Bat like the mi
ner, the boatman does not get the
chance to make trip every ten days;
on the contrary he is often kept ten
days idle at his own expense, waiting
tie pleasure of the companies to load
or unload his boat. After that comes
rent for use Of boat OF $25 each and
every trip; toll for use of canal burn
ing coal on boats, &c., which leaves
the boatman often in debt, and which
has driven him so far in that direc-
ton that be will be compelled to have
more wages or abandon the canal and
let new population people the boata.
| At present rates and amount of work
the boa;men must go under if they
remain. The boatmen have been liv-
ing at disadvantage for the last two
years how they have lived God only
knows
I notice some of our county papers
say on last Monday that the Execu-
tive Committee of the Knihgts Of La
bor met in Frostburg and were waited
on by delegates from all points of the
region for the purpose Of taking a
vote on going to work at so cents per
ton, &c., and that the miners were
getting dissatisfied, and go on, and
portion of them wanted to go back
to work.
The Cumberland Times is organ
izing police force to protect those
miners that are willing to go to work,
and it is rumored here that the Mary
land company has already got new
men in their mines, who are getting a
free pass over the Georges Creek rail-
road to and from Cumberland when
ever they wish to go.
There are few boats passing up
and down carrying some coal from
the Elk Garden region to individuals
along the line, but none to the eastern
market.
The canal is open for navigation
fer the season.
The company say their new locks
will be put in working order and sew
eral double boats will pass down soon.
Double boats is a new feature ON the
canal, and wont amount to much af-
ter they do try them. Yours, truly,
BoATMAN.
FROM NEBRASKA
HUMBoLDT, NEB., April 3, 1882.