New-York tribune., 1900-10-02
MINERS MAKE NO TERMS.
STRIKE SPREADING IN An
THRACT7E COAL REGION.
LEHIGH FOLLOWS READING CoNTPANYs
LEAD -WoRKMEN STILL INSIST on
RECOGNITION OF UNION.
IsT IrLEeRAFH 10 THE rr1pryr-I


Pottsvine Penn oct. The most i'm
portant dsvelopmeuts ir to-day's occurrences
in the Schuylkiu region arc the great gains
made by the strikers 4 week ago the coTieriss
were working almost fun handed through this
territory. The United Mine Workers then ap-
peared to have insecure hold. Looking over
the held tonight. il looks "a II nearly all the
coliieries tied up. and the prospects are that
not more than 2-1I cars Of anthracite coal win be
sent to market the result Of to-day's opera
tions. and with the exception of two sections
Of the county everything is closed down tight
To-day the armed deputies were on guard at
mining property. but there was No necessity for
their services 1t appears that every
colliery Of the Reading company is tied I'd
except the three the west end and the North
Franklin. at TrevOrton.
Notwithstanding an increase of rs Der cent
in wages the Reading miners resolved to stay at
home until the big strike is over. They say they
are not on strike. but will quit work until the
trouble ends 1t is a sympathetic move on a
large scale to enable their brother miners to win
their battle and the recognition of the union.
Their advance in wages would be 10 per cent
on their net earnings and the remaining s per
cent increase would BE- coming them as the
result of the high price that the company is now
getting fer It's coal; but the twenty-seven thou
sand employees of the company who now out
/ these n
dozen Of the Reading Company's collieriss were
at work on Friday last. only four out OF three
I hundred are now in operation All the COM
panys mines at Minersville have shut down
until the strike is The Lehigh Company's
/ colleries in Panther Creek Valley are running
short-handed, and here is where the strike lead
efs are bending every energy TO gain the victory
LEHIGH VALLEY WORKERS RESTLESS
/ The ten collieries in the Panther Creek Valley
are owned by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation
| Company. About seven thousand men are en-
| ployed by the company. \ big mass meeting
was held and a local union was organized with
about four hundred members. Two delegates
visited every colliery in the district distributing
circulars calling for a meeting Some ten strike
leaders drove over from Hazleton and McAdoo
| aud did some missionary work. but failed to
get the out IT is believed. however. that
| they will eventually leave work unless the strike
is speedily settled. No deputies OF soldiers were
in sight to-day. and great unrest is reported
among the men The strike leaders say that all
| the men in the Panther Greek Valley will be
out before the end Of the week. In the west end
Of the county the Brookside. Lincoln and Good
spring eallieFies Of the Reading Company were
| worked t6-daS. There have been no accessions
| to the ranks Of the strikers. and thorough
canvass Of the entire community showed that
| there was not a single strike sgitator about
| The number Of strikers there does not exceed
thirty,
The Whliamstown colliery Of the Pennsyl-
vania railroad is running full handed The west
end coIlieries of the Reading are mining about
5I5 cars day. They gladly accept the rs
per cent advance in wages. The collieries at
I.ykens are tied up tightly John Fahey, dis
trict president. addressed meetings at Forest
! willie and Brauchdale last night. The men at
both those places are employed at the Otto
| coIiery. at Branchdale. They decided to lay
down their tools. and a result the works
were closed down tight this morning. All the
| mules in the east collery slope. at Ashland.
were hosted to the surface and not hand is
engaged around the colliery. except few non-
union men The Potts colliery. of Reading.
was unable to start up this morning. and the
/ Silver Creek and Eagle Hill collieries. Of the
Reading company. near New Philadelphia. also
| failed to start work This ties up two OF the
| largest workings outside of Brookside and Lin
coin. Silver Creek employed about twelve hun
dred hands and Eagle Hill nine hundred
MORE COLLIERIEs CLOSED.
The most astonishing report arrived to-day
from MinersviIle. that all the ten coliieries in
that locality. which include Glendower. Glen
Carbon. TayIor's Valley, Pine Hill. Lytle. Oak
| Hill. East Ridge SilvertOn. Phoenix Park and
| BranchdaIe were tied I'D completely. Not
wheel is turning and the Heckscherville Valley
| is as quiet as on a Sunday. The officials could
hardly believe the story that the men failed TO
respond, but it did not take long to learn that
the miners had concluded to stay at home when
the whistles blew . o'clock
| Everything is quiet and there has not been the
| slightest disorder anywhere. The men simply
| stopped work and said they are going TO wait
until the affair is settled The officials OF the
| Raadips coupanv are astounded at the stand
! taken by their employees 1t was believed that
\ the posting of the notice Of advance OF 10
| per cent in the wages Of the men would result
in keeping them at work especially at the coll
! ieries on the south side Of Broad Mountain.
which have been busy until this morning. The
men. however have decided take different
view Of the matter.
| The tieup so far as the Reading company is
/ concerned. is now practically complete. The
only colIieries now in operation are in the west
/ ern part OF SchUylkill. and OF the vast army
/ of mine workers not more than twenty-five hun
| dred remain At work. The colIieries now In op-
/ Grafton on full time are not able TO produce
/ more than 225 cars of anthracite coal. The
lockout" said mine official to-day could not
| be more complete. 1t is the greatest strike OF
! the age. and what is so remarkable is that the
men are orderly and minding their own bust
i ness
MANY MEETINGS OF STRIKERS.
| Meetings were held in many places to-day and
tonight and al least dozen branches of the
| Miners Union were organized. particularly In
| the vicinity OF Minersvile. New-Phila delphia
| and other mining towns. The organizers are
/ more than gratifed over the prompt response Of
/ the miners after the situation was thoroughly
| explained The only disturbance occurred at
/ Middeport. when man who was under the