The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1895-09-18
MINERS MASS MEETING!
REQUEST PRESENTED TO GEN.
MANAGER ELLIOTT REJECTED.
The Men Decided to Suspend Work Until
All Receive 35 Cents.

II was advertised last week that a
general mass meeting of all the miners
of Reynoldsville, Rathmel, Sandy
Valley, Falls Creek, Rochester and
London mines, who are employees Of the
Bell, Lewis e. Yates Coal Mining Co.,
would be held at Rathmel at 1000
o'clock last Saturday morning for the
purpose Of discussing the mining situa-
tion, and to decide what had best be
done, with hope of bettering their
condition, which for sometime has been
in deplorable state. The weather
being fine and the questions TO be dis
cussed being Of such vast Importance,
as large a body of interested men never
before attended meeting in this section
such as the one held at Rathmel.
About three hundred miners from Du-
Bois and London mines walked down to
Rathmel and were met there by the
miners from this place, who marched
up headed by the Excelsior band and
carrying the American flag. The men
from all the miues, numbering at least u
thousand, then assembled in field and
the meeting opened with Walter Aims
ley, the last checkwayman at Rochester
mine, acting as chairman and John
Robinson secretary. A committee, con-
sisting of one representative from each
mine, was appointed to draw up rcsolu-
tions to be presented to the company.
The meeting was then opened for the
discussion of any subject which con-
cerned the interests of the miners and
was first addressed by Mr.. Ainsley, the
chairman. He is of the opinion that
the men at this place are used better
and given more work than the COM
pany's employees at Dubois. He also
stated that it was expected when a
number of the men quit that those who
continued to work would be given more
to do: but that since 300 or 400 had left.
still there was nothing to do. Mr..
Ainsley's address was followed by short
speech by Mr.. Robinson, which opened
discussion in regards to establishing a
scale for machine and pick mining.
The committee on resolutions report
ed the following:
Committee on resolutions organized
with L. j. White, of Soldier Run
mine, as chairman and S. S. Haine,
of Henry mine, as secretary. After
discussing the situation the committee
agreed on the following resolution:
That we demand a continuance Of the
present rate, % cents per ton, up to
Oct. /, 1895, and from that time on the
price shall be 40 cents per ton for all
pick mined coal. And for machines,
the price to remain the same as before
up to Oct. l. and from that date on il
shall be equivalent to the advance.
The resolution was amended to state
more clearly what should be the advance
in machine mining and was made to
read "four-iifths of the advance in pick
mining" The report was then adopted
and committee appointed to present
the resolutions TO General Manager S.
b. Elliott. The committee secured a
rig and drove to the Office of the COM
pany at this place, where Mr.. Elliott
was interviewed. He claimed that the
company had opened the Hamilton aud
Rochester mines for charity and that
they would shut them down again and
continue to pay 30 cents in the mines
working, and If all the other companies
in this section gave the advance to 40
cents on the 1st OF October the b.. l.. e.
Y. Co. would also pay 40 cents. The
committee reported to the mass meet
ing and the men would not accept the
proposition and now all mines are idle.
The miners are not willing to believe
that the Hamilton and Rochester mines
were opened for sweet charity's sake,
but think it was a scheme to get the
price down to 30 cents ton in all the
mines. Men were promised five days a
week if they would work in Hamilton
for 30 cents TOM men who were work
ing in Big Soldier, so we have been in
formed, were asked to go to work in
Hamilton at 30 cents; men have come in
from other places to work in Hamilton
for 30 cents and as soon as they struck
the town they could tell just where they
were going, how much they would re-
ceive per ton and that they would get
all they could do. For these reasons
the men do not have faith in the state
ment that the mines were opened for
charity.
The miners think they should get the
40 cents the lst of October whether all
the other companies pay the advance or
not. AS they understand the PROPOSE
ton, if one or two companies pay the
advance they will not get it unless all
pay the advance.
Utopia Program.