The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1897-09-23
TROUBLE NOT ENDED.
An Alarming Condition Of Affairs st
Eckley Mines.

HazeitOn, "a, Sept. 15.-At this
writing troops are marching on the
mines OF Cox Bros, at Eckley, which
lies in a valley about 18 miles from
here. kilograms to brigade headquar-
tiers late this evening indicated an
alarming condition there. The re-
mOteness Of the situation will make
difficult the securing of definite news
from the scene before morning.
The superintendent Of the Eckley
colliery telegraphed General Goblin for
troops, but later the request was with
drawn, the superintendent notifying
him that the strikers had stopped
marching. At O'Clock this afternoon
Genera Goblin received kilograms that
these miners had again assembled, had
marched on the Eckley mines and forced
the miners to quit work. It was stated
in this dispatch that the miners had
been roughly handled. General Goblin
has ordered the city troops of Philadel-
phia to the scene of the disturbance.
The start will be made shortly after
midnight, or just after daybreak. The
troops will ride across the mountains,
distance of 18 miles, to Eckley. Eckley
is small mining village, and lies in
valley. There are number of col
lieries there, and fears have been enter
tanned for the past 48 hours that trouble
would break out, as the men had been
acting very ugly.
The situation tonight in Hazleton
district is one of unrest. The collieries
in this district are apprehensive of
danger. Requests have been pouring
in to General Goblin from the various
mines, asking that he send troops to
the places in order to prevent any pos
sible outbreak. The general states that
he will not send troops to any point
unless an outbreak does occur. The
general declines to give the names of
the collieries, as all the men in them
are still at work. The operators, how
ever, are apprehensive of strike, and
want to be prepared for an emergency.
Two mine superintendents in this
immediate vicinity have asked Gen
eral Goblin to place guards around their
houses. This will be done. General
Goblin will not make public the names
of the superintendent who made the
requests.
Two actresses who are playing in
theater here overheard conversation
on the main street of Hazelton today
to this effect: They were passing
group of miners, and overheard one of
them remark: "I've got the material,
but don't know how to mix the stuff.
If did, would blow them up to-
night
This information was sent to General
Goblin, and as he had already heard
mutterings from other sources, he de-
cided to send guards to the houses of
the two superintendent. The guards
were not placed ON duty until after
dark.
Today has been regarded as the turn
ing point of the situation. because of
the prohibition issued by General Goblin
against the funeral demonstration. A
compromise was effected this morning,
however, and the day passed off with
out disturbance. In the meantime the
Cox collieries were being watched with
intense anxiety. It was known that
the 1900 men employed at No. had
made demand for a compromise,
which was to be submitted to the
operators today, with the alternative
of "strike.'' From 5000 to 10000
men are employed at all the collieries,
and such a movement would bring
them All ont
General Goblin said:
.'The rumor that martial law has
been declared has been started by some
vicious person. There is martial law
only so far as a state of war exists.
We are here solely to assist the sheriff
in maintaining peace and order. Men
come and go as they please, SO long as
they behave themselves. If there is
the least infraction of the peace which
the civic authorities are unable to
handle, then we will render assistance.
The commander added that neither
Sheriff Martin nor any Of the deputies
would be arrested while the troops were