Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-03-12

jumpers, per hour. 1850. rs
AS it was considered much more
expedient to have small committee
settle this matter than the large one,
a committee was appointed for that
purpose with instructions to report at
II O'Clock this afternoon. The follow
ling men compose this committee: On
orators, D. b. Fleming, of Des Moines;
John w Harkers, of Jerome; John H.
Evans, of Avery Miners-John
Branniff, of Des Moines; F. T. Romes-
berg, of Mystic; John F. Ream, Of
Beacon.
Before adopting any scale it was ex-
planned that the engineers are going to
join either the U. M w. of A. or the
Hosting Engineers Association. Mr..
Reese said that scale must be adopt
ed by the operators with one or the
other of the organizations before APP
; ril or the engineers will strike. He
said Eve will not keep men in our
organization for whom no scale is
made. If the engineers strike we will
support them. We will not mine coal
for non-union hosting engineers.
Scale for sinkers.
!
then taken up. After short discus
sion of the matter it was decided to
pay $40 to sinkers per day of eight
hours.
House Coal Again.
The matter of prices for house coal
: to miners was again taken up. The
operators considered that this should
be taken up at each mine, in order to
protect the local operator. The min
ers, however, disagreed in this regard.
The morning session adjourned dur
ling the discussion of this matter.
The price the miner should pay for
coal is the topic OF discussion this at
ternoon among the members of the
Joint scale committee. The miners
: are persistent in their demands that
they be allowed reduced rate. The
operators seem willing to sell at 8
rate equal to the price of production
The local operators are an important
factor in this matter. In the first dis
trict no agreement could be reached
The following prices have beer
adopted:
Second district-Lump coal, S1.50;
, nut coal $.S5.
, Third district-Lump coal s1.75 ani
!, 50.
Fourth distributing coal 50 a
mine.
From Saturdays Daily.1
The joint scale committee of miner!
, and operators has now reached :
, stage where serious trouble is encoun
tered at every turn. Two subjects art
, new left before the committee, all tina
> remains of full scale. Everything
' else has been settled so far as tn,
' committee is concerned, and the onl.
D things now left for discussion are tn,
t dead work matter in the first sub-dis
! trict and the pay for hosting engin
g GERS turnout District No. 10. So ia
= the committee has succeeded in decid
ing everything satisfactorily to boil
sides, and the matters which. hav
. been arranged now await the fatifica
: ton of the joint convention, when i
shall meet as whole after the tw,
$ remaining points have been covered
v When these two matters will be de
a cided, however, is something exceed
e ingly hard to G1sermine at the pres
r ent time. This is especially true 0
s the dead work question in the south
i ern field. 1t is thought that, so far a
t the engineers scale, is concerned, al
! adjustment can be arrived at on thi
n point, but both miners and operator
l. express themselves as rather dubiou
+ concerning the probability of settle
t ment of the difficulty existing in sub
y district No. 1.
Scale for Engineers.
The matter of scale for engineer
s has never before this year been fac
e tor in the making of a scale by tn
S, miners and operators of this district
d Heretofore the engineers have bee
IS treated as a separate class of labor
l. their position being, as stated yestel
q day in the convention by Mayor t. !.
r Phillips, nearer the employer tina
any other man working at the mine
o This is one of the reasons, accordin
o to Mr.. Phillips, why the enginee
should not be a member of the miner.
e union, but the fact is cited by tn
3 miners that the engineers want a seal
d made for them, and the miners and
is number of the operators agree that
S, scale should be made by the miner
e. with the operators rather than hav
II another meeting between the engi1
y GERS and the operators.
Mack Taylor, of Danville, ILL.,, chic
y of the Hosting Engineers association
was in the city one of the first day
Is of the operators and miners ioir
IS convention, and talked to each bod,
is informing them both that the engil
SO GERS in this district wish scale mad
for their government during the yea
Sc He also said that the engineers war
this convention to make scale fc
10 them. In case this convention fail
to do this, however, Mr. Taylor e.
planned that the engineers will expet
rs meeting with the operators befol
April l, and intend to make seal
20 whereby they obtain an increase.
The operators took a separate DO
25 as to whether or not they should tr
= to make a scale with the miners fo
the engineers, and the result wa
against such action, altho some of til
operators are in favor of making thi
n scale now.
= May Mean Strike.
James Boston, of Sparta, H., men
al. Der of the national executive board (