The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-10-25
MAY END THIS WEEK.
wind-Up Of the Strike Looked For
in Some Quarters.

Wllkesbarre, Pa, Oct. 22.-Ihe gen.
eral belief here is that the coming
week viii see the windup of the strike.
The strikers do not admit this OPEN
ly, but it is the feeling that the lock-
out cannot be continued much long
er. Both sides are expected to make
concessions. The operators say they
have none to make, but under certain
pressure they are expected to make
them, nevertheless. The politicians
have had their say in the negotiations
looking towards a settlement, and
now the sales agents for the big coal
companies and the retail dealers in
the big cities are taking a hand. They
are writing and telegraphing every
day to the coal companies that unless
something is done very soon to bring
the strike to an end and an effort
made to get some hard coal on the
market at saleable figures, the anthra-
cite trade will be demoralized for
years to come, and some of 1t will
be lost forever. One sales agent writes:
some Of my largest customers tells
me that consumers are getting to like
bituminous coal, and that they think
they will keep on using it," 1t is such
reminders as these that makes the
operators just as anxious to settle
the strike as the miners. But the
strikers must make the biggest con-
c~ession, and there is every reason to
believe that they will do 1t before the
week is over.
Statement by Mitchell.
Hazleton, Pa, Oct. 22.-When Presi-
dent Mitchell. of the United Mine
Workers, was asked Sunday night
what he had to say in regard to a set
Element of the anthracite coal min
ers strike, he said:
GAS there appears to be some disposition
on the part of the public to place the re-
sponsibility for the p~rolongation Of the
strike on the shoulders of the mine work.
ers, speaking for them, l want to say that
when the Scranton convention accepted the
ten per cent. advance in wages, providing
the operators abolished the sliding scale
and guaranteed the payment of the ad-
vance until April /, the miners had met
the operators more than half a They
had shown conciliatory spirit, and l know
of no good reason why the proposition
should not have been accepted by the OPP
orators.
Operators Responsible.
"As a consequence, the responsibility for
the continuation of the strike rests solely
upon the failure of the operators to treat
the proposition of their employees consider
ately. The public should understand that,
unsatisfactory as is the proposition of the
operators, who make the reduction in the
price Of powder a part of the advance of
ten per cent, that even this proposition
has not been offered by a very large num-
Der of the coal-producing companies in the
anthracite region, and until all companies
| guarantee the payment of the ten per cent.
advance above the rate of wages paid in
September until April 1. according to the
decision of the Scranton convention, the
miners are powerless to act. l want to re-
peat again that there can be 10 partial Sec
tional settlement of this strike.
"The large companies in the Lehigh re-
gion that nave refused to move at all since
the cranton convention was held are Coke
Bros. & Co., the largest coal producers in
the Lehigh region; G. b. Markle & Co., the
Lehigh & Wilkesbarre company, the Lee
high Coal q Navigation company and a
large number of smaller companies. There
are also a considerable number Of coal COM
panies in the Lackawanna and Wyoming
regions that have not guaranteed the pay
ment of the ten per cent. advance until
April /. The only district that has accepted
the terms of the Scranton convention In full
is No. 8, better known as the Schuylkill dis
trict. Companies which produce about 6
per cent. of the total production of the an
thracite coal fields have guaranteed the
| payment of the ten per cent. advance and
have abolished the sliding scale"
When Mr.. Mitchell was asked what
he would do if all the companies were
to post notices, he said: "When all
the companies have posted notices
then 1 will have something to say"
When it was suggested to him that
there might be a break in the ranks
of the strikers if-the contest was to
continue much longer, he said that
not one man will go back to the mines
until they are officially notified TO re-
turn.
To Call n Convention.
Wilkesbarre, Pa, Oct. 22.-Presi-
dent Mitchell and the executive board
have virtually decided to call another
convention of strikers in order TO
consider this last offer of the opera
tors. When this convention will be
called has not yet been determined.
The decision rests with President
Mitchell, and he will probably decide
next Wednesday or Thursday. Scran-
ton will doubtless be again selected
as the place Of meeting, and the ar,
rangements will be as before.
Won't Go to Work.
Shamokin, Pa, Oct. 22.-Committees
of United Mine Workers ~canvassed the
Philadelphia e. Reading Coal and Iror
company strikers of this place, Mount
Carmel and Locust Gap Sunday to
learn whether any of the men intend
ed to go to work to-day. The strike
leaders state that no one will re
spond to the blowing of the whistles
excepting engineers and fire bosses
A prominent local official of the Unior
Coal company says the company pos
itiveIy refuses to concede to any o.
the demands made by the Scranton
convention. The company claims tina
their busy season has been ruinet
by the strike and they don't care
when the strike is settled, feeling pos
tive that they can hold out muc1
longer than the striking miners. Thu
company controls four large collierieI
in the Shamokin region.
YOUTSEY FOIJND GIJILTY.