Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1894-06-15
The Strikes.

Last Thursday the police at Nckeesport
and the strikers had their first set to. The
strikers met near the mayors office to hold
mass meeting and were dispersed with
out much trouble by the regular and
special police. The National Tube Works
Co. stated that they would not try to run
their plant at present, and two hundred oil
the business men of the city held a meet
ing and advised the men to go to work at
the old wages.
At Punxsutawney the Berwind-Whi bite
Company erected at the Horstio mine bar
racks I6 By 100 feet with shed roof. No
tices were posted notifying the miners
that those desiring to return to WORK
should apply by letter or in person by FIJI
dav At 10 o'clock OIL otherwise consider
themselves discharged. The men paid no
attention to them. The scale offered Is 80
cents. the same that was paid before the
strike, snd the price asked was 40 cents.
The Berwind- W hite people operate hve
collieries at Horatio and three OF Anita.
The English speaking miners and the con-
servative elements among the leaders had
much trouble in preventing the foreigners
from making an attack on the armed oth-
GERS. If any attempt is made to introduce
non-union men no power on earth will pre-
vent battle.
At Walston the foreigners built several
nondescript cannon, made to throw scrap,
spikes, etc, at short range. They have
screw-plugged several sections of four-inch
pipe, which they have jacketed with strap
bands of steel There are also numoer
of bombs in possession of the Slav Sink
ers.
Everything was quiet at McKeesport
Friday. and the mills were guarded by the
sheriff
The Pittsburg Coal operators held a
stormy meeting, Friday, and adjourned
without agreeing as to the recognition OF
the Miners Union.
At Boggs run, West Va strikers held up
a coal train on the B. & O., the sheriff OF
the county asked for troops, and Gov. Mac
Corkle ordered out five companies.
The conference of the operators OF Mer-
| Ger. Lawrence, Beaver and Butler counties
which met in Mercer Saturday, was not
very largely attended, and alter star cham
her session of several hours duration, ad-
| iourned to meet "a Tuesday. There was not.a
| sufficient number present to warrant q pro-
positiou of settlement TO be made and no
| business was transacted. Both operators
| and miners are willing to settle.
The unexpected happened ~ Punxsutsw-
new last Saturday. That morning spe-
cial train on the Pennsylvania and North
| western railway passed through, having on
board about 200 Slavs, Hungarians and
| Italians obtsined in New York and else
where. They were landed at Eureka No.
| s mine. at which squads of police had been
on guard for several days. The excite
| ment among the foreign element in the
mining population was intense and not
withstanding the English speaking miners
were outspoken against the use of violence
there was danger that the foreigners could
| mot be kept under control and that al at
| tack might be made on the newcomers at
| any time A conflict between the miners,
| the guards and the new men was almost
| certain to occur A large force of carpen-
| ters was engaged in erecting additional
| barracks for the use of the guards and the
| new men.
| A battle between seven armed deputies
and a mob OF 300 strikers occurred Sun
| day morning at o'clock at the Lemont
No. works of the Mcclure Coke Company
| two miles north of Uuiontown. One strik-
! er, a Slav, was killed instantly, and two
| other Slavs were fatally wounded. The
deputies were surrounded and fired upon
by the strikers before they shot.
| On Monday, Gov. Mckinley called out
L Al fs RI
| ther bridge burning on the Lorain X.
Another bridge had been burned and
| trestle go feet long had been blown up
with giant powder.
The Berwind White Co. put 200 nom
| union men to work in their Horatio mine
| in Jefferson Co., with 250 armed men guard
| ing the mine and nothing happened that
day as the strikers were waiting to hear
| from Columbus.
Gov. Pattison notified the Colonels of
the 18th and 10th regiments to beready for
duty in two hours notice
The conference of operators and miners
of the district, embracing part of Western
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and eastern
and northern Illinois, at Columbus, Ohio,
Monday, effected settlement of the strike
so far as that district is concerned, and so
| important is the district in the bituminous
coal industry, that this was regarded as
practically a settlement of the national
strike.
The Scale Committee, which adjourned
at 12 O'Clock Saturday night, unable to
agree, resumed work that morning and
was in session all day with occasional in
tervals to permit the miners to retire to
confer. A 6 o'clock the committe agreed
upon q report. 1t is the 60 and 69 cent per
ton compromise, proposed by the operators
at the outset Of the conference. The
miners secured just half the advance they
asked for.
The second conference at Mercer, Tues
day of the miners and operators of Butler,
Mercer and other counties broke up with
out accomplishing anything The miners
wanted go cents and the operators offered
55.
The scale adopted at Columbus o. Mon
day is not satisfactory to the miners of the
Pittsburg and other districts and may be
repudiated by them
5000 negroes will be put To work at the
Frick and other Westmoreland Co coke
works and the foreigners will be COM
pletely got rid of. There are already ], 800
negroes at work and ON Il ground,
Two more bridges were burned on the
Wheeling and Lake Erie railroad Wednes-
day afternoon at Fuller's mine. two miles
east of Sherrodsville. The company as.
sumed that the strike was over and moved
one train of West Virginia coal. The Ga
boose was barely out of sight of Sherrods-
vile when the bridges were burned down
and the telegraph cut.