Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-01-21
C0UNSELS PATIENCE.
Ratchford Tells the Coal Con.
ferees That the Scale Com.
mittee Is Doing Its Best.
pEtIBERATIoN Is A GOOD THING,

the Imptient To he Restgned-Nothing
fet Finally Agreed Upon and the Differ
ential Question Hardly Begun-what
That Issue Means to Ohio and Penlsyl-
vsnia-lliinoi Adopts Gross Weight.
Chicago. Jan. 21.-The Illinois miners
won a great victory last night when the
operators OF this state voted unanimous.
ly in favor OF the gross weight scale.
About 80 per cent. Of tho miners have
been demanding this. and 1t will with.
out question be adopted. No further
progress was made BY any other state.
Chicago. dan. I.-At yesterday after.
Moons session Of the conference be-
tween the coal operators and miners no
report from the scale committee was
Forthcoming, but President Ratchford
and Chairman Boyle (sf the Indiana
operators) appeared to explain the de-
lay and te ask that the delegates re-
strain areir impa,ience. Ratchford
said: ''Ehe scale committee Is working
hard. and We ask for your considera-
ton and patience until the committee
reaches some conclusions. whichw will
at once submit to you. The condition
Of the coal trade during the past three
or four years has reached such plane
that 1t pequires much labor and thought
to pvt 1t on a basis Of equity. No
proposition VIII be Submitted unless it
n aoquiesced In by the miners and OPP
orators Of each district.
VIII Fight II Out ON That Line.
"eur purpose Is TO continue in session
until We have blended aG interests. and
until We have reached a point where we
can defend all actions Of the committee.
DiTerentials. conditions Of mining,
hours Of laber. general prices. must be
dealt with. ard ] ask you to be patient.
In ttat way yeu are. Isrhaps. making
greater progress by moving slowly. 1t
Is our endoavor TO place the trade in
a position where both miners and op-
eratcrs VIII make more money"
Chairman Boyle reiterated Ra:ch-
ford's sentiments. The c,nveNtion then
adjourned until today. With a better
feeling on The part y a large Number
OF delegates who had become Impatient
at the eeiay in receiving tie scale com
Tlllice r!ort
hid They squeich Chapman
One allegation heard about the Great
Northern hotel yesterday was that nox-
ace l. Chapman. defeated candidate for
ecverrer 81 Ohio in the recent cam
paisnhad been sat upon and seIeIched at
q jcint meeting cf operators represent
Ing all the big mines Of Ohio and Perm
| nj Ia L.,
have becosnc 50 ohstrepeTous I'm his argu-
ments for the cont.nuanoe Of the much
debated Scent diSerential In wages
which exists in favor Of Ohio that he
vas given a hint. not altogether deli-
ca.ely werded. To withdraw. Chairman
denies that thepc was an, row. but he
refuses to explain why he was not
present at the executive sessions of the
operators from ohio and Pennsylvania
yesterday. II Is said on good authority
tina; the Pennsylvania Operators have
presented an ultEnatum 10 the Ohio
mine owners demanding that the diff
ferential Of . cents be wiped out en-
tirely.
DiGerentiai May He Compromised.
The Ohio operators are quite willing
TO slide this diffsren;ial down to 4 cents.
and II is thought these two factions
VIII come TO some kind OF compromise
after a deadlock that has lasted nearly
a decade. President Ratchford Is find
inT himself In the midst of troubled
water. He is charged by some of the
miners wiR too much Of the 'concilia-
tory spirit" Ratchford is seen ad.
dressing the scale committee more than
any other individual member and the
operators say he is quite reasonable in
his demands. One Of the issues which is
good az settled is the hsur question.
Two Of the ssr<es represented in the
| convention recognize ten hours as
| days work. While the ether two have
| adopsed the nine-hour day