Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1897-07-07
COAL MINERS STRIKE.
1t will Go into Effect on July r anc
$4,000 Men will be
Affe oted.

Columbus, O., July "A general strike
of miners of the United Mine Worker:
of America has been ordered for July 4
by the national executive board, whose
headquarters is in this city, and also BY
the district presidents, as the result of
meeting held here June "a, % and Is.
The official document says:
To the Mine Workers Of the Country
Greeting: AT the last convention of the
United Mine Workers of America. held in
the city of Columbus, o., January 1916
1897, it was determined that the scale OF
prices should be advanced to the following
rates: Pennsylvania Pittsburg district,
pick mining, 90 cents per ton: Ohio, &c
cents per ton; Indiana (bituminous), &C
cents per ton; Illinois grape creek, -
cents per ton. Machine mining to be paid
three-ffths per ton of the price for pick
where the price shall be four-ffths per
ton of the price paid for pick mining:
other mining sections corresponding in
crease in price that will place them on
relative basis.
1t was further agreed that the time for
enforcement of the scale be left with the
national executive board and the district
president to determine when it would be
most opportune to put this scale into effect.
NJ. D. Ratchford is president of the
national executive board; John Kane.
vica-president, and W. C.. Pearce. secre-
tary. All these names are signed to the
circular.
The officers here say 375,OOO are in.
volved as proposed strikers. So far rs
anything can be learned here from Off,
Gals, the call for the Pittsburg meeting
of miners on Saturday is to decide how
the strike is to be conducted in that dis
trict. They have to consider plans to
take care of the women and children
during the strike. President Ratchford
says this is the best time to settle the
question of wages, as during the summer
the men can make use Of their little gar
den plots in obtaining subsistence. The
needs of clothing are not so great as IN
winter.
The proposed scale is intended by the
miners to make work profitable to them
in the Pittsburg district and elsewhere.
Pittsburg, as claimed, is paying 81 cents
per ton and Ohio 81. To make the diff
ferential what the Ohio operators claim
it ought TO be, they threaten to reduce
cents below Pittsburg. The miners pro-
pose, if possible, to raise Pittsburg
prices so as to prevent a reduction in
Ohio to 10 and the possibility of even Il
farther reduction here in case PittSburg
should keep on lowering, as Ohio
lowered, to maintain the differential of
@ cents.
Chattanooga, Tenn. July 2-The stu
alton in the East Tennessee and Southern
Kentucky coal-mining sections is rapidly
becoming very serious. There are now
over 1000 idle men in the Jellicose dis
trict and nearly the same number along
the line of. the Cincinnati Southern rail
road. These men struck on May i and
have done no work since. Few of them
had any money saved up and the ma
jority are now suffering for the necessi-
ties of life. All efforts to settle the
strike have proved unavailing and it is
now admitted that none of the mines
can be operated for several months It
is feared that trouble viii come.