Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-04-01
M THE COKE COUNTRY.
Now the Connsllsyills Miners Do
Their Work.
s EXTENT OF the INDUSTRY.
ne Aea Working on Short Tlms-The Best
Miners Coming Frsn eng- %.
land - Reducing
Wages.

los NEIL SNlll.E, IA, hArcn W.
For a dozen miles north and south Of
ConnellSville stretches the famous coke
region To which the town gives name.
Scattered along, almost within a stones
throw Of each other, are the various
wOrks, some big, some little, compriS-
ing in all nine thousand beehive ovens,
whose ceaselesS fires hang the heavens
With dense black clouds of smoke by
day aud illumine them with their
bright glow at night. To operate these
ovens an army. of ten thousand men
are employed above and below ground.
These are largely composed Of the for
-elgn born element, though quite large
Percentage Of the labor is native Ameri-
can. Several years ago the latter pre-
Nominated, but during the prevalence
of prOtracted strikes the Hungarians,
Poles and Swedes were imported into
the region i'm such large numbers as to
turn the scale. In justice to both EN-
plOyers aud employed, however it may
be stated that
al StTikes seldom Occur
IN the ConneHsviile region, aud are
avoided rather than encouraged by
both partie>. The operators generally
-evince desire TO pay reasOnab BILE wages,
and the miners usually hesitate before
casting aside their tools. The latter
have 10 organization here like that of
fthe Pittsburgh or gas coal miners. An
attempt was made to effect one about
n year ago, but it proved abOrtiye.
Wages were good; the men were salts
lied, and the movement fell flat. But
III the labOrsrs are without the adyant-
age of united organization their en-
pioyers al no better off The latter
some years ago organized what was
Known a. the COnnellSville Coke ASsO-
.piation, whose province it Was to unite
the operators TO regulate the price of
coke a. wall as the wages of labor. But
before il hid been long in existence it
was discuve red that some of its leading
members were selling coke below the
association rate. \ stormy meeting
followed, and the result was the DISCO
luton of the Association.
Extent of the Industry.
Before the ponderous intellects of the
late Congress tackled the tariff queS-
tiOn every oven in COnnellsviIle region
was in full blast and nine hundred ears
of coke was the daily output. The UNI
certainty of the tariff ISSUE. coupled
with the failure or temporary Suspen-
sion of number Of large furnaces and
mills in the West, gradually reduced.
this output, until, three weeks ago, it
was less than four hundred cars per
day. But with the settlement Of the
question the demand has increased and
the output il now six hundred cars daily,
being LwO-Ihirds of the capacity of the
region. OF course this depression in
trade necessitated curtailment OF
production. Some OF the works shut
down and have not since resumed Oper-
atiOns. \ lew ran full time, but the
great majority worked four days out OF
the week, making what IS knOwu1 in
trade circles - I2-hOur coke, in distlnc-
ton To iN-hOur coke, the product when
working every day.
The Income OF the LabOrer,
never muniiicent, was reduced just one
third. The coal miner is paid thirty
cents per wagon for mining coal. This
wagon Is supposed TO mold thirty-threc
and Oue-third bushels, but this il the
exception rather than the rule. Some
wagons hold over forty bushels and none
are under the standard. The coal being
soft, u miner can easily dig from six To
eight wagons per day. The average
is about seven. This makes him $40
per day, ont OF which he has to pay his
blacksmith bill and furnish his own
light. The drawers, who pull the al
most incandescent coke from the glow
ing ovens with long iron hooks, receive
seventy cents per oven. The average
drawer pulls three ovens per day.
These are the ruling rates IN the region.
At some places the drawer Is only re-
|. uuired to- pull his oven, the work OF re-
filling It with raw coal and ieveilng II
|. over the bottom being done by other
wOrkmen. In this event, the drawer
gets hut sixty cents per oven. For
driving entry coal from i've to eight
cents more per buShel is paid than for
digging in the side galleries or rooms.
Reducing the Wages.
With the recent depression in trade
q few of the operators decided to reduce
wages TO - cents for mining aud 80
cents for drawing. Their men struck
and the works are idle. The great ma
iority of the operators, however, repu-
dated the attempted reduction on
grounds Ofpolicy. They argued that a
reduction of wages would only result
in corresponding reduction in the
prices of coke, which, above all things,
they desired 10 avoid. Coke was then
selling at 81 per ton, having dropped
in three months from Sl.5O to that fig
IRE. When it is understood that there
ia no money in making coke at less
than Sl.25 per ton, the anxiety OF the
operators TO push tho price upward:
again is easily appreciated. And this
IA not impossible. Coke is atiuctuating
prOduCt. Two years ago it rose with 8
succesion Of mighty bounds from 9S
cents to ~ per ton in the brief space Of
three months. Though not rs slippery
"a oil. il nevertheless sometimes eNhtO
lis symptoms of violent unrest.
How the Miners Live.
The coke works which dot the Con
npIIsyille region are each supplied witt
n village, of varying degrees ot size anC
neatness, Here the miners and drawer
make their homes. These villages arr
part and parcel of the works ana th'
houses are rented to the employs a
various prices, ranging from e+ 10 so
Der month. Two rooms and a Eitchei
are contained III the bCoI VI NhVAhi ~
they are always guiltless ola cellar; In'
fenements are, as a rule, built in block
of two or four. Their prevailing colo
ia not "a very handsome shade of brown
This particular color is chosen because
of its durability and eheapness aud no
for its beauty. Some of the tenement
are simply rude shanties. These ar,
built in long rows and are occupied 10y
the single men. The coal dust anC
smoke which impregnates the air ofth'
average coke village is wholly incom
patible with white-coated walls Ant
modern improvements, hence few o
the more philanthropic employers wh'
tried the experiment OF constructing
peter class of tenements are not extend
ing il any farther. Some of the Villages
recently built are laid out with a view
TO beauty. Streets, sidewalks snC
alleyways have been provided and al
attempt made to render the place at