Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-27
FINDING BIG FIGURES.
Miners officials Try to Show the
Justice of Their Demands.
OPERATORS CLING TO THE SCALE.
J. Morton Hall Proves That the Agreement
Was for Year.
MISS oREILLY FINISHING HER WORK

MISS O'REILLY FINISHING HER WORK
The interest in the demands to be made
by local miners is gradually increasing.
The matter was the chief topic in industrial
circles yesterday. and the operators lost no
time in endeavoring to establish more
firmly their position that any demands at
this season of the year must be resented at
all hazards.
J. Morton Hall and Alex. Dempster were
found on Wood street yesterday by DIS
PATCH reporter, discussing the matter.
They seemed somewhat surprised at the
statement of President Rae, of the miners,
that no Interstate agreement had been en-
tered into last spring "Of course. !"
said Mr.. Hall, mo interstate
agreement was made because the
Interstate conference was dissolved. But
our agreement was made in the usual man.
ner with our own men, and that being the
case, we consider 1t more binding than if it
had been made by the Interstate confer
ence, and as Mr.. Rae says he is here to see
that justica and fair play are dealt out, he
ought to see that the men live up to the
agreement they made.
THREE CONFERENCES WERE HELD.
''The matter was thoroughly understood,
because we had three separate conferences,
and when the agreement was reached the
Interstate officers were present and wit
messed the agreement. The men never
wanted an advance on through business; it
was OH local business that they wanted the
increase. They were thoroughly satisfied
with the settlement and never intimated
that it would only be accepted as tempo
rary arrangement.
In support of this last statement Mr..
Hall went TO his Office and quoted from the
stenographic report of the meeting of the
Arbitration Committee held June %, as fol-
lows:
Mr.. McLaughlin-When the yearly scale
was settled (reterring to the agreement of
May y the convention appointed its Arbl-
tration Committee. That committee was
also confirmed by the other convention.
My understanding of the matter was
that settlement was made for the
year at 70 cents on Northwestern
and all through business, and all arbitration
committee was to be appointed by the
miners and operators to take up the local
question, and when an advance could be
obtained over what was paid on lake or
through coal, such advance was to be d.
vided between the miners and operators.
''The Miners Committee then present as
sented''
There were present at this conference
Hugh Mclaughlin, James Boyd, M. Nc
Quaid, Pat Hallern and Edward Hardy for
the miners, and Alex. Dempster, F. L.
Robbins, j. Morton Hall and two other
operators.
AS TO EQUALIZING WAGES.
Regarding the point made by President
Rae that the wages of railroad and river
miners in this district should be equal, Mr..
Hall said that while the railroad operators
have an advantage of 10 cents a ton on the
cost of mining, their transportation costs
them 33 cents, while the river operators
only pay cents, making the total cost of
mining and transportation for railroad op-
orators 81 IL as against 81 cents for river
operators Under this condition they could
not afford to add any more to the cost of
production and expect to compete with
other operators.
There is considerable speculation as to
what demands the miners will decide upon.
The convention Tuesday will be one of the
largest ever held in this district. President
Rae telegraphed the members of the Gen
eral Executive Board last night to come
here Tuesday to act Immediately on the de-
mands decided upon, and it is considered
settled that the advance will be asked for
on October l.
President Rae and Vice President Penna
gave out some valuable statistics last
night in support of their position
relative to the prospective demands,
that were not intended to be made public
until after Teesday's convention. Their
right to make such demand in the face of
the agreement of May 2, last, having been
questioned by the operators, the repre-
sentatives of the miners felt bound, in order
to set themselves right in the eyes of the
public, to show the hand they are banking
on.
SIN the first place." said Mr.. Rae, "that
agreement, although it was not signed gives
us the right to enter q claim for an advance
under certain conditions. Here are the
conditions that will let us in. Under the
present arrangement the Pittsburg miners
are paid 70 cents ton. They really mine
$500 pounds instead of 1000, the difference
being a dead loss to them through the
screening. Of the $500 pounds &c per
cent is sold for cents bushel, 33 per cent
is nut coal and slack, 70 per cent of
which is sold at cents and 80 per cent at 4.
In other words, the entire output OF the
mine is sold on an average of about 6 cents
a bushel, while the men receive but g."
MIR. PENNA's SIMILAR OPINION.
Vice President Penna confirmed the
statements Of President Rae, and added: 'T
am informed that the operators are getting
cents bushel more for their coal than
they were previously, when the rate for
mining was 70 cents, and if that is
not reason enough for asking for
an advance we will never have one 1 can
see by the interest the operators are taking
in this matter, by trying to establish the
tact that our agreement had been entered
into for year, that they are more than
little uneasy over the present move. l have
no fear as to the result. Our men will get
the advance and they deserve it.
Mr.. McQuaid, a member of the Miners
Arbitration Committee, said last night that
an attempt had been made to get their case
before the Arbitration Committee, but the
operators had refused to meet them or found
some excuse for not having a meeting called.
In support of this statement, Vice Presi-
dent Penua said he had understood that two
unsuccessful attempts had been made to
get the Arbitration Committee to meet.
This information was received too late to
secure statement from the operators re-
garding it.