The evening times., 1900-09-21

Workers IN the IefritOFy iHSOiN-
ed-The Grievances of the Men
! FAZLETON. Pa, Sept. 21.-Few people
are couversant with the extent of the an
thracite coal region now involved in one
Of the greatest strikes in the history of
the country. The trouble between the
workers and the operators is in full
swing, and is likely to be far-reaching in
its results, especially if it lasts into mid
winter. Production has practically been
stopped in the worlds greatest coal field.
Before the battle has ceased over 10000
men, upon whom million people depend
for support, will be out of employment.
The prices of anthracite coal will advance
from day to day. In few months there
will be a scarcity of hard coal and it is
hard to predict to what figures the price
| will jump. Business men and others who
| know what such a strike means view the
| situation with gloomy forebodings.
People who have never been in the an
! thraCite coal fields have no conception Of
! the excitement of the last few months-the
! agitation that has led to the order TO
! strike, Good speakers have visited the re-
5000 TO 10000 persons. There have been
still more gatherings of from coo to 5000
men Parades, torehlight professions and
bonfires have been part of all this demon
stration against the operators
! Outside of four counties in Pennsylvania
| there are few anthracite coal mines in the
! United States. Their aggregate output is
less than IS coo tons year, and the coal
is poor sort OF anthracite The anthra-
cite coal output in Pennsylvania amounts
to almost 10000 600 tons { year These
! hard coal fields are divided locally into
four regtons-the Lehigh, the Scnuylkill,
! the Lackawanna and the Scranton
| The total area, in square miles, of all the
anthracite coal basins is as follows:
/ No. 1-Southern or schuylkiH and Mine Hi. lag
No: 2-Shamokin, 30; Aahanoy, ii; Lehigh
Basins, ......-.................. i2s
No. 5-Wyoming and Lackawauua. lgs
Total area of Anthracite aeIds........4 472
If all these hard coal basins were brought
together they would form a district TWEEN
| ty miles wide and little less than twenty
four miles long; yet from these practically
the world receives the greatest portion of
| :ts supply Of anthracite
! Entire Region Affected.
The strike order applies TO the entire
anthracite region affecting Scranton,
/ Carbondale. Wiikesbarre Pittston. Nan
! ticoke. Hazleton. Treverton. shamokin,
Ashland. Shenandoah Mahanoy City,
! Lansford. Tamaqua. Pottsville. Miners
Vile. fremont. Tower City. and other
| places. Wilkesbarre. Scranton HazIeton.
and Shamohfn are the hotbeds OF the
! strike movement
Not all of the miners are organized
| but the natiOal officers claim that those
I not ORGANIZED will IL =o=p
/ strikers Il was supposed the Phiiadel-
! phia and Reading Coal and Iron Com
| pany's collieTies would not be included
/ IN the order The strike, however, ap-
! plies TO them. for the abolition Of he
| sliding scale is one of the grievances
In the anthracite fields Of Psnnsylva-
MIA are directly employed a total of 49,
| 420 men, all except 1909 foremen and SD
! perintendents being affected by tha
| strike order OF this total nu-nber. 60
| $50 are inside employees aad 0425 out
side employees The former Include Sc
$40 miners, 2S,906 laborers. Il, ,267 driy-
| erS, 5,Gf5 doorboys. sos fire bosses and
! 161O3 all others. and the latter are made
| up as follows: 23676 slate pickers. 4445
! engineers and fremen. 2,056 bIack smiths
and carpenters, 1850 all others These
! men include Americans, Austr:ans
Englshmen, Germans. Hungarians
! Irish, Italians, Poles Russians. Scotch
]
! tatnly heterogeneous and cosmopoI tan
! population OF the 40 600 miners 90
| COO are said TO belong to the union
! In the last ten years there have been
many pretty homes erected by the Poles.
| and number of them are well to do. They
are rapidly becoming American citizens.
and their children speak English fuentIv.
| They are honest. and most OF them make
good citizens. 1t is claimed that the Poles
have saved more money than any other
class, and that they can better afford to
hold out if a long strike should result
than any other nationality of the foreign
element.
Demands of the Miners
This is what the men demand: Powder
shall be reduced from s275 to s1.5o
keg. Company doctor and compul-
sion to pay shall be abolished CompIi-
| ance with the State law, which saws
all industrial concerns shall pay their
employees semi-monthIy in cash. That
all coal shall be weighed, and that
2,240 pounds illegal weight shall con-
stitute a ION. No miner shall have at
any time more than one breast. eangvay
or working place, and shall not get more
than an equal share of care or work.
check wefghman shall be hired by the
miners and permitted to represent them
at the head of each breaker and see that
the weight is correct and dockage fair All
classes of day labor in and around the
mines shall be advanced in wages thus.
Those receiving less than $50 day. 90
per cent: those receiving from S150 10
S1.15, 10 per cent and all receiving more
than S1.75 to be advanced 10 per cent
In addition a special scale has been
drawn for mining in veins of different
widths, making gangways and crossauts.
opening chambers. removing rocks. tim
beTing and constructing platform. chutes
and brattices. The prices are slightly in
excess of those that have prevailed. John
Fahey, president of the United Mine
Workers Of the counties of Northumber-
lanG, SchuylkiIl, Columbia and Dauphir.
in an interview, said relative to the
strike;
The miners think that, as a business
proposition, the Philadelphia and Reading
Coal and Iron Company should hail with
JOY the adjustment of differences between
employer and employed, as proposed bv
the miners, because the Reading has no
company stores. pays semi-monthIy in
cash. permitting it's men to deal " here
they please, and charges S1.50 a keg for
powder, and does not put into effect tbe