The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-09

PITTSBURG, July S.-The close Of
the third day of the miners strike finds
| the diggers gaining strength rapidly in
| the Pittsburg district, elating the Of
hcerS and men correSpondingly. The
net result of the struggle up to date,
| as CLEANED from unbiased, as we'll as
from partisan sources, is about as fol-
| lows: $4,000 men idle, an almost total
| suspension of work in the mines along
the Monongahela river; suspension
practically total on the Wheeling divi-
sion Of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad,
only about fifty men working there;
all of the railroad mines closed down
with the exception Of the M. A. Hanna
& Co. mines along the Panhandle, the
New York & Cleveland Gas Coal COM
pany and a few Individual mines which
can have but little effect on the
situation.
The Hanna mines have about one
third of their usual number Of men at
work and this slight increase over yes
terday appears to be the only advan-
tage the operators have gained. The
situation as to the supply cannot be
called serious as yet because there are
| from twelve to fifteen millions Of
bushels of the black diamonds in stock
at the various pools along the river
which can be placed in this city at
short notice and, if need be, a portion
Of it could be shipped to the lakes.
Up to the present time no sign of
unlaWfulneSS has developed among
the strikers, and no evidence whatever
that there will be. 1t is reported that
a meeting has been scheduled between
President Ratchford, of the Mine
Workers association, and President
Gompers, of the Federation of Labor,
in this city tomorrow, and the miners
officials announce that a systematic
movement will be started to bring out
the diggers now at work for the New
York & Cleveland Gas Coal company.
The miners officers are likely to
meet with a serious stumbling block
in their efforts to induce the miners
OF the New York & Cleveland Gas
Coal company to join in the move
ment. A visit to the mines today dis
closed the fact that a large number
OF the men are opposed to striking
at this time because of their contract
| agreement. The officials of the COM
pany say the men have given positive
assurances that they will remain loyal
and are in noWise alarmed over the
| claim of the miners leaders that they
| will have the men out before the
| week Closes
1t is safe to say that the amount of
| coal dug today on the Wheeling di-
| vision of the Baltimore & Ohio rail-
road would not fill one fiat car. Such
| complete shutdown, as exists in
this dist let, so soon ter the inaugu a.
ton Of the strike, is admittedly a sur
prise to the people living in that Sec
ton. A number of miners were at
| work yesterday, the majority of them
| r hn nf hn tch,1 o. IL;
Gas Coal company at Snowden and
| Gastonville, but today it is doubtful
| If the diggers at work along the whole
line would number fifty, all of these at
the Gastonville pit of the Pittsburg &
Chicago company. A careful review
of the situation proves the assertion of
! the miners officials that the Wheeling
division is solidly advocating the strike
Miners along the line have been
anXiously watching the diggers of the
| Pittsburg & Chicago company at Gas
| tonville and SnOWden. Up till today it
| was a matter of doubt whether or not
! they would come out. These men have
all been working under the ironclad
| agreement, and, as this meant a forfeit
ture of 10 per cent of their wages, held
| back since the first of the year by
| the firm, if they voluntarily quit work
! the strikers were in doubt as to whether
! they could be induced TO join the move
ment. At a meeting held last night
| however, it was decided to come out
for the district rate, and today the
miners were practically idle. By their
action, it is said, the men will loose
nearly $8,0O0.000 in percentages.
The miners on the Wheeling division
! apparently have no fears in regard to
| the length of the strike. A large num-
| Der of them were asked how long the
strikers could stand it without suffer-
| inc q fr,oa
| in the belief that they could scratch
along for several weeks all right
About one-third of the full quota Of
diggers was at work at the Panhandle
mines Of M. A. Hanna & Co., today.
This is an increase over yesterday
and is due to the fact that the firm
posted a notice to the effect that