The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-05-08
Butte Meas.
THE RAROs TROUBLE.
Miners and Bosses o Ject to the Presenc,
of "a simekeener

of "A simekeeper.
The Miners union has not taken nm
the controversy at all, as IL is claimed
that the matter is between the en-
ployes and Mr.. Heinze, 1t is probable
that the affair will be settled in some
way to-day.
The trouble between the miners am
ployed at the Rarus and General Man
ager f. A. Heinze Is not yet settled
All the men, about $50 In number, have
quit work, including. as stated in the
Standard yesterday morning. Superfn-
tendent Rowe. The grievance of the
men is that, contrary to rules govern
ing the operation Of all mines. Mr..
Heinze employed a timekeeper named
Applegate who went through the mine
and acted as a "spotter," and on his
report men were discharged over the
heads of the foremen and shift bosses
Two or three men at a time, they
claim, were discharged without appar-
ent cause and without any explana-
ton to the foremen or shift bosses.
The trouble has been growing for
week, and finally the men demanded
that Applegate resign his job, but he
did not do 1t, and Superintendent Rowe
and Thomas Williams and John Pet
ers. the shift bosses, quit work and the
men. out of sympathy, followed. Only
a pumpman and a Waterman were left
to take care of the property. Mr.
Heinze advertised for men to take the
places of the strikers, and il is said
that hundreds of men applied for work
yesterday.
The old employees held a meeting at
Miners union hall yesterday afternoon
and discussed the situation and deter
mined to stand on the position they
had taken. 1t is understood that they
sent a committee to Mr.. Heinze and re-
quested that all the men, including the
bosses, be taken back and the time
keeper discharged, and that Mr.. Heinze
refused to grant the request, but said
the men could go back to work and
their places would be held open for
them until this morning, after which
new men would be put to work.
Mr.. Helnze, in giving his version of
the trouble, said: Some time in De-
cember last l decided, as we had a
large number of men working in the
mine, that IL would be advisable to as
sist the shift bosses in keeping time
by employing timekeepers and to have
these men go around in the mine and
check up besides taking time on the
surface. 1t was also the duty of the
timekeepers, with the consent of the
foremen, ito report any one who they
thought was not attending to his bust
ness properly. From the time the time
keepers were put on until now, four
and a half months. they reported four
men as not attending to their work |
When L returned from the North / |
notified Mr.. Rowe that I wished these |
four men discharged. l llave been go
ing through the mine since my return |
a little oftener than usual and have |
discharged about II men myself be- |
cause l did not think they were doing /
the proper work. Mr.. Rowe has also |
discharged some men during that |
time.
I'm the meantime one of the shift /
bosses who 1 did not think had for |
some time displayed a proper interest
in his work got very much down on |
Applegate. This shift boss
made IL his business to go around and
tell the miners that whenever a man !
was discharged ii was on account of !
Aplegate's report, ana this made a
great deal of bad feeling. About 10 days
ago Rowe told me he would resign If
did not fire Applegate. 1 told him that
Applegate was doing nothing more
than his duty, and 1 could not see the |
justice of firing him. Rowe did not re-
sign but the feeling against Applegate
kept increasing, although he had not
been below ground for eight or 10 days.
The matter finally eliminated in a
waiting on me night before
last, and telling me they represented
the miners in the mine, and, at a meet
ing, quite a number of men advocated
getting Applegate out of the camp on
the o'clock Northern Pacific train,
but quiet prevailed, and they decided
to ask Applegate to come to the mine
at noon and explain himself
Applegate did not give definite an
swer, but reported to me. and 1 told
him l would go to the mine yesterday
at noon. l went, and there was not
shift boss, no timekeeper or foreman
there, but the shaft house was crowded
with men. l explained to them that
Applegate had done nothing except
what he had to do, through Rowe's and
my orders. They made respectful
speeches and said that in view of the
feeling, l would ask for Applegate's
They asked me IL they
could go back TO work. and told them
TO do So Afterwards / met the shift
boss and Rowe, the foreman, and they
asked me what l thought about it, and
! said the blame was not with the men
but with the bosses. whereupon they
their designations, which | ac-
cepted, and in the evening the night
shift did not go to work.