Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1902-12-06

Scranton. Pa. Dee. 4.-The anthra
having failed 10 come 10 an agreement
during liIr Thanksgiving recess of lGr
strike commission, the hearing uI the
miners side Of the ease WAS continued
Yesterday. ani unless something j. Gonr
by the lawyers on both sides 10 curlail
muttrrS It's proceedings viii surely run
Into next wear.
With the rraSSrnlbling Of lLecomE!S.
sion yesterday, however, there was Il
revival Of tlr talk Of Il settlement "out
of court" Nothing definite has been
done aud neither side has approached
tn" other. so far rs can bc learned, re
gHl,lin. ii! llirr negotiate lut rs one
prominent attorney expressed il. there
/, >omcthn. in the air. Til" lawyers
ON both sides have heard the lumor,
alul profess they know nothing about il,
hit would moi he surprised IL Soil,r-
thing in the way of an agreement is
rcnrhrd before the hearings are con,
clutrd."
Chairman Gray. speaking for tl,c
commission, again expressed the hopr
thnt efforts would be made by both
sides 10 agree on rs many points ~
possible and SAID the commission WAS
ready TO lcnd any colriiatory hclp 10
bring about that end.
Six witnesses were on the stand dur
ing the two sessions yesterday. They
were President Mitchell. two photogln-
pliers. two practical miners, one Of
them Hungarian, ana the wife of II
German miner. Mr., Mitchell was on
the stand for IL short time only ami was
called to show that II 2Operccnt in"rCASr
in wages did not mean II corresponding
increase in the price per ton OF coal.
The photographers produced about %
photographs they lad taken of the
homes Of mine workers in the lInZlrton
region. which territory was under in.
vcStigatiUn yesterday. The two miners
testified with reference to wages paid
and working conditions at the collierirs
of Coke EiOS. \ Co, an independent
concern in the llaZletOn region, and
the woman. whose husband is employed
in the Cox" mines, told Il general story
If poverty.
The commissioners AT times seem
ingly We're inpatient at the way the
proceedings dra eyed. While they had
half dozen witnesses before them,
they did not learn much more than they
already know. On their trip through
the coal fields they saw houses whose
general appearance was worse than
those pictured yesterday and they also
received much information along the
lines presented yesterday from the men
in the mines which they visited. They
are ANXIOUS for the documentary evil
drncc, such rs wage statements ard
other data bearing Oh wages and condi-
tiOnS. This was strongly evidenced
when they eagerly seized upon the due
bills landed up by the Hungarian wit
ness Every member OF the commits
sion examined these and had questions
20 ask about thenL
One of the commissioners said ii was
principally Z question of wages. and
they wanted these facts as quickly as
they could get them. In this connec.
tinn there was considerable discussion.
between attorneys for both sides and
the commission regarding the doci-
mentary evidence. Both parties to the
controversy had agreed to try 70 agree
as far rs possible on Il summary of the
great mass of figures that the hun.
,lrrls of accountants for the different
is such Il StuprilOllS one. taking in as
ii does. about 10000 men and boys.
that neither side is yet ready to so into
that feature of the investigation