Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-15
MORE MINERS QUIT
Galleries in Hazelton District Are
Running Short Handed.
IACKAWANNA REGION SHUT DOWN
Strike Causes Railroads to Law
Off Many Employees.
MEETINGS FOR TOMORROW

HAZLETON, Pa, September 15-Some
of the collieries in this region are running
short handed this morning because Of the
failure of miners to report whose supplies
OF powder and other materials have run
out. Although President Mitchelrs strike
order does not go into effect until Monday
all miners who are determined to strike
Will lay down their tools and quit tonight
President Mitchell is expected here tonight
and as soon as he arrives he will take
personal charge of the strike. He will be
accompanied by portion of his office staff.
The local mine workers leaders are busi-
ly preparing for the inauguration of the
strike. A meeting will be held in this city
tonight and another in Freeland. Tomor-
row another open-air mass meeting is book
ed for Freeland at which President Mitch
ell and p. ]. Mcclure, president of the
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
will speak.
Meetings have been arranged i'm every
town in the district, and final appeal
will be made to the men to obey the order
of the national president.
Mines to be Fenced In.
Detectives are said to be arriving in
small numbers on every train and fully
$50 are reported in various mines in this
neighborhood. An agent for barbed wire
company stated today that he had sold
thousands of pounds of wire to the oper-
ators. This indicates that mines will be
fenced in and barriers erected around the
breaker houses, beyond which no intruder
would dare venture
The decision of the men employed by G.
b. Markle & Co. not to strike until the eX-
piration of the ten days which the COM
pany has been allowed for making answer
to their demands, which they submitted
last night, means that the Jeddo and Oak
dale collieries, employing about 1,JOO hands,
will be operated Monday morning despite
the strike order. The Obervale colliery of
the same company will probably be closed
down. because the mine workers union is
strong in that town and only a few miners
from that place were present at last nights
meeting. 1t appears from this that the
strike cannot be made general throughout
the HaZleton district, but Benjamin James,
who is in charge Of the mine workers
headquarters and in close touch with the
members Of the organization In every min
ing hamlet within q radius of fifteen miles,
declares that there are many union men at
both Jeddo and Oakdale, among them the
forefgn-speaking element. and they are de-
termined to quit He claims that the mine
workers organization is strong enough at
Jeddo and Oakdale to seriously cripple op
erations at both mines.
Men Submit Grievances.
A committee representing the miners en-
ployed at the Cranberry coliery Of A.
Pardee & Co. held conference today with
A. Pardee. at which they presented a num-
ber of grievances directly affecting them.
One Of the demands made was that the price
of powder be reduced. The committee was
told that if a reduction was granted on
powder the price paid for certain kinds of
work would be cut down proportionately.
The conference was unproductive of direct
result, and another meeting will be ar
ranged for. The men, following the refusal
of the company to make concession on
powder, are now divided on the strike ques
ton.
A prominent factor in the situation is the
foreign element. If the Hungarians, Poles
and Italians quit work 1t is certain there
will be tie up, despite the action taken by
the English-speaking miners.
The first important conference. Of strike
leaders was held at mine workers head
quarters today. Benjamin James. Organ
zers Courtright and Dempsey and President
Duffy of district No. Z were present At the
conclusion Of the conference, which took
place behind closed doors, Mr.. James said:
''On the basis of the numerous reliable
reports received by me from all parts of the
Hazleton region l assert thatthere will be
a complete tie-up on Monday morning Va
rlous statements have been given out by
the operators for the purpose of deceivng
the men. but you can state positively that
all hands will go out"
VIII Resist Strikers Demands.
General Superintendent Loomis of the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western COM
pany, is looked upon as the head of the
superintendent organization. Today he
said 1.-The position of the companies is
thoroughly defined. and there will be no de-
Walton. We have conferred. and while We
think the men have been ill-advised, we
are decided that none of their demands shall
be- met. A line of action has been deter
mined on and this will begin on Monday
morning with the blowing of the breaker
gongs, calling the men to their work. Those
who respond will will be given places and
protected in their work If necessary these
men will be placed in one of the central
mines, SO as to be employed together and
the work and safety better assured. A sup
ply of stock coal now in sight can meet
the immediate demands of upward of two
weeks. After that there must come a coal
famine. or the thrush of bituminous coal
that will wipe out a large part of the an
tbracite market, unless the men now de-
luded by false hopes return to work.
At strike headquarters today Committee
man Dilcher said the financial statement Of
the United Mine Workers for July and the
comments thereon distributed by the opera
tors In circular form. does not show the
defense fund of the organization. The
statement is regularly printed for public
Information, but the condition of the de-
fense fund is never made public property"
"It is sufficient" he said, ito assure the
strikers that we have the means on which
to keep up the struggle for Justice"
SHUT DOWN IN LACKAWANNA.
Indications That the Tie-Up Will he
Complete Monday.
SCRANTON. Pa, September 15.-The po-
sition Of the United Mine Workers was to-
day further strengthened in the Lackawan-
ma region by the going out of the miners
and laborers at half dozen other col
lieries, principally Delaware and Hudson
Company's operations in this city, the
Northwest mine Of the Temple Iron Com
pany, the Clinton colliery of the Delaware
and Hudson at Vandling, as. well as the
Clifford and Forest City collieries of the
Hillside Coal and Iron Company at Forest
City.
+ The day will close with as near a COM
.piete shutdown In the entire Lackawanna
valley as can be Imagined. for II II almost
certain that not colliery In operation In
this region can withstand the apparent de-
termination of the mine workers to main
tain their demands by strike
The strike is already having an effect on
the railroads. which are laying OF many