Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-22
JOHNSON MINES.
What the Manager Says and What the Former
Employees Say
AFFIDAVIT OF THE MINERS.

i q, {
Before me, F. r. Young, a notary
public in and for Erath county, person
ally appeared the undersigned, who
after being duly sworn, state that they
were employed by the Texas Pacific coal
company for the purpose of mining coal
near Gordon, Tex. When we were en-
! ployed the agent assured us that there
! was no strike at the mines and that there
! was but few of the old miners ut the
| mines. The agent gave us
| the statement as published by Mr..
! Rennie, which was published in the
/ Labor Tribune of Pittsburg, Pa, and
! upon which we were led to come to
! Texas. When we arrived at the mines
\ we found near one hundred miners on Il
! strike against reduction of wages We
were placed under a guard and the car
/ doors were locked upon MS at Marshall
| over two hundred miles from the mines.
/ When we reached Fort Worth our train
| was stopped east of the depot, at an un-
usual place while the rangers guarded US
| \ change Of engines was effected and we
| were hurried through as though we were
criminals. On arriving at the
mines we found that things had
! not been fairly represented to US,
and that we could not make the wages
which the agent had assured us could be
| made. We refused to work, and started
TO leave the camp, when some OF us were
| arrested by the rangers, who abused us
shamefully for listening to the strikers.
| We assure our friends all over the coun-
| try, regardless of what Mr. Rennie says,
that there is a strike at the Johnson
mines, and by as good men as can be
found in any mine, and we request all
| friends of labor to stay away from these
mines until,the owners will agree to meet
with committee appointed by a labor
organization which they now refuse to
do. We make these statements under
oath, III justice to the striking miners
and their families.
Fred Snider, Pittsburg; s Y. Mangis,
Pennsylvania; Charles Gehm, Pennsyl-
vania Thomas Ford, Rosedale, Ind; 4
j. Burton, East Tennessee; James
RELAY, Clearfield county, Pa; Edward
Farmer, Pennsylvania; John Farmer
Pennsylvania: Neil Mcdonald, Henry
Hage, John Gill, Indiana; Mort Kief
Rosedale, Ind; Peter Lotus, Indiana;
w. NJ West, Indiana; Thomas
Jones, Kentucky; John Farmer, Ken
lucky; Joseph Dungey, Pennsylvania;
Homer Campbell, Indiana; Thomas Nc
Kee, Illinois; Peter Stinson, Indiana;
George Mcdonald, Illinois,. Daniel A.
Tibbs, Jilica, Tenn; J. R. Tribble,
Linton, Ind Julius keatz, Newcomb
Campbell county, Tenn John Johnson,
Ayrshire, Ind; George Bilderback,
Ayrshire, Ind; John Todd, RosvilIe
Park, Ind
Given under my hand and seal of Office at
Johnson mines, this 8th day of
Seal February, A. D. 1889.
F. r. YOUNG,
Notary Public, Erath County, Tex.
STATEMENT FROM THE COMPANY.
What is the situation at the mines?
Everything is working well now The
company have secured quite number of
practical miners who are working every
day and are getting out quite lot of
coal. The company is improving extern
slvely and is progressing rapidly.
What about the strikers!
There are but very few of them here
now
How many of the new men went out
and joined the strikers?
Twenty-seven all told.
bow many men are now at work
About 40.
What are their average earnings?
The miners average from 81 so to So 90
per day.
What about the alleged abuse of the
new men by the rangers?
There has never been any person
abused here by the rangers or arrested by
the rangers except one man, and he was
arrested for theft. The fact is, those
men that Col. Hunter brought here from
the East and paid their way and paid
their board, agreed TO go to work and
pay the company all of their expenses in
bringing them here, but those that went
to the strikers circulated this report.
They bought goods from the company
under the pretense of going to work, and
instead started off with their baggage.
Col Hunter only asked the rangers to
stop them till he could talk to them.
The rangers did so and Col. Hunter
asked them if they were leaving. They
said they were. He asked them if he
had misreprese1ted anything to them.
They said he had not. Then Col. Hunter
told them if they were that sort of men
they could go and to get off his premises,
and they did so, and circulated the re-
port that they were arrested and abused,
all of which is not true.
J. R. GRAVES.
STATEMENT FROM FORMER EMPLOYEES.
(d1iOHlLlss MY 1OA cGUIS ct6ThS,
carpenters, engineers and headmen,
would, according to Mr.. Hunter, leave
100 miners, which number, digging, as
he states, from two to four tons of coal
per day, should produce about 800 tons
per day, which would be about seventeen
railway ears per day, or more than the
average day. hoist when the mine was
running to its full capacity. Seven rail-
way cars wOnld be about 126 tons of
coal, which, divided between 100 miners,
would be about one and one-fourth tons
each per day, but they produced about
twenty-five railway cars last week
or about 400 tons for the whole week, or
seventy-five tons per day, which, di-
vided between 100 mines, would be
three-fourths of a ton each. According
to the statement made 20 us by man
who was employed by Mr.. r. S. Weitsel
to examine the books of the Johnson
coal company for the purpose of ascer-
tanning the average tons per man per day
produced by the miners under the Johnson
company only three men in the mine
produced an average of two tons each per
day for the last six months the mine was
ID A.