The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-01-25
...THE ..JlOAEsC0N.TljENTIQNE
Made Littls Progress. Ye.tcrday " Miners
Demand at, Advance o & Ten Couts n Ton
m III Hti,iI ri i. nrnha III M

Made Littis Progress, Yesterday - Miners
Demand at, Ad, anes OF Ten Ceatia Ton
a settlement En,lreiy Probable.
/ CHICAGO. Jan. e.. The interstate
Sbitumlnops ciai miners and operators;
made little progress at to.day,s ression,
but the miners made their position plain,l
and slgnlned their intention to do or,
die. Their demands were reiterated for
a ten cent advance and a uniform base OF
weights, As The convention seemed L,
be nearing a polntJwheh actlon wouldbe
Absolutely necessary, the whole matter.
Including the resolutions presented by
the miners, was referred j back to the
scale committee at It's instruction 70 re-
port to-murrow. The main question Is
whether Illinois lwlll break away from
the contracte running TO May |, or Insist
upon holding them good, II the Illinois
operators contracts can be. arranged for
nothing Will prevent a quick settlement,
as the other operators are ready and
willing TO grant the advance demanded.
At to-day's closing session, which was
sdelayedSuntll o'clock. awaiting the re-
ssult OF the miners meeting, the motion
pending that any advance granted
should take. effect January, II was ta-
bled. Tho operators, who had likewise
been In secret session, then offered res
olutlon passed at n conference OF Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois operators, estab-.
Fishing double standard between
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana. and Illinois
the main feature OF which was q IL inch
screen for the Pittsburgh Ohio district
as a basis for the run of mine prices,
the differentials to be decided upon by
the miners and operators OF each state.
The clause referring to the screens
made the fiat bar applicable to Ohio and
Pittsburgh district. and the diamond
bar for Indiana and Illinois. The oper-
iators endeavored TO explain why n dis
tinction had been made in the shape OF
the bars; but President Ratchford de-
5clared that the miners wanted uniforms
Hy. and that II the operators had Moth
ing better to offer Il was time the con-
vention came to n close. I'VE came
here, he concluded, "to give. nothing
away. but to demand better prices and
better conditions. 81
He moved the previous question, thus
cutting of further debate. The resolu-
tion was then lost, the miners voting
nay. va
President Ratchford was then called
upon to report OF the miners meeting.
He replied that the miners simply reaf-.
flrmed their demands for the mine run
system.
HI Chapman, OF Ohio. got the floor,
anr repeated his statement to the effect
that false reports were being circulated
giving him as the stumbling block in
the convention.
q The CONVENTION unanimously adopted
a resolution presented by President
Ratchford, condemning the reports
3anent Mr., Chapman.
Mr.. Chapman concluded his remarks
by saying that Ohio was here for the.
purpose 0f granting an advance II the
terms could be agreed to. Pennsylvania
Indiana and Illinois re-echoed the sentl-
ment, but the latter with the reservation
when our present contracts have ex-i.
PRED Thelatter statement has proved
full OF meaning, and is the only thing
now In the way OF q complete settlement.
Several districts in Illinois have con-,
tracted until May l with their miners,
and claim they would be suffering an in
justice should general advance take
effect now.
The miners were called upon 10 oller'
their scale President Ratchford re-
piled by reading the following: The
miners, demand Is for ten cents advance
on screened, and a relative price for run
OF mime
He then offered the following resolu-
ton: Resolved. That We favor the min
ing OF screened and coal In all
the fields of the competitive districts
for the coming year, except Illinois, and
that the mining prices be adjusted by.
this convention giving all districts IN
the competing districts fair competing
prices
AS this resolution was about to be put,
Operator Robbins got the floor, and re-
marked that as the atmosphere seemed
to be somewhat clearer, he moved that
the matter, be referred back to the
scale committee, with instructions to re-
port 10 morrow morning. This motion
was carried unanimously, and the con-
vent!on adjourned until tomorrow.