The Portland daily press., 1888-01-19
PENNSYLVANIA woRKINcMEN.
The State Of Their Troubles In the
Mining Districts.

READING, Penn, jar. 18.-The framing of
a memorial to President Corbin. of the Read
ing railroad is about to be followed by pub
lie meeting to be held shortly for the pur-
pase of giving additional force TO the action
of the city authorities. The general senti-
ment here is in favor Of an amicable adjust
ment of the strike by the adoption of con-
ciliatory methods on both Sides 1t is feared
that unless this is done soon there will be no
possibility of settling the strike for weeks to
come. There are some business men who
still think that arbitration is the way out of
the difficulty, and it is believed that this
could be secured if the miners would cut
loose from the railway hands This is how
ever, improbable at present.
Various suggestions are being made, but
that which seems to be viewed with most
favor is that all other issues be dropped, and
the miners and railroad company come to a
decision as to what would be a fair adjust
ment of wages. The question of reinstatiDg
the discharged trainmen, it is claimed,s can
be disposed of afterwards.
No coal has been mined this week for ship
ment. The small quantities being carried
are for the company's locomotives, Coal
trains now consist of II to IA cars; hereto
fore they have numbered from 40 to 100 cars.
| The trains are about to be heightened, how
ever, ON account of the large number of loco
motives that have been withdrawn from the
road for repairs
Viewed With Alarm.
| The fact that both the Lehigh Valley and
| Reading miners are out is viewed with great
alarm. This is the first time in the history
| of the coal regions that both districts were
| idle at the same time. Efforts are being
made to secure non- union labor to run some
| of the mines. but it is not believed that this
will prove successful. Agents of some OF
the individual collieries visited the iron ore
district along the East Pennsylvania railroad
this week for the purpose of hiring some of
the miners who have been thrown out of en-
| ployment by the suspension of operations al
the ore mines, but they were unsuccessful
These miners have been receiving the miser.
able pittance of 65 to 80 cents per day, and
their work has been of the most dangerous
character. Now that they are unemployed,
| on account of the blowing out of the fur
| naces having cut off the demand for ore, their
| children are crying for bread They were
offered $3.50 to $265 per day to work IN the
| coal mines, but refused. They are .prlncl
| pally Pennsylvania Germans and allege al
the reason for their refusal that they are
| afraid of being boycotted by the Irish ano
Welsh miners of the coal regions. The. as
surances of protection that were given then
| had no effect.
The coal yards in this city are almost de
pleted. and the retail dealers say it Is next Il
impossible to obtain domestic sizes I; that tht
agents of the furnaces in the Schuylkill val
lev are buying up all the coal, and the opera
tors prefer to sell to them, because they save
the cost of breaking it. All coal for house
hold purposes now comes from the Wyomlns
region. and New York prices are charged TIN
retail dealers of this section.
The fires in the Chestnut Hill furnaces al
Columbia were banked today because thu
coal gave out The mines in Maryland from
which the ore was obtained have also
stopped This throws out several hundred
hands The fires in the Condelia furnace
near Columbia, were also banked. Carloads
of Hungarians and Italians pass through
Reading nearly every day from the coal re
gions They are among the most enthuslas
tic strikers. Seeing no prospect OF worl
ahead in the Schuylkill regions they arr
leaving for their native land or other sec
tions of the country.
WEsTcHEsTER, Pa. Jan. 18.-There /
great suffering among the families of tn
idle iron workers at Coalyille. The mill