New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-10-26
DANGER OF A NEW STRIKE
ATTITUDE OF OPERATORS IN PROTECT
ING NON-UNION MEN RESENTED
TROOPS TO STAY.
rrr rEuEeRArH TO ruE TErRuyE

In the Hazleton district nine thousand men re-
fuse 70 return 70 work Near Mahanoy CITY
eight hundred went strike to-day. and nine
hundred threaten 10 strike on Monday. while
in the Panther Creek Valley the locals to-mor-
row are 10 determine whether they shall ask
the executive board 10 order strike Of the
six thousand men az The Lehigh Coal and NaVl-
cation Company
President Mitchell Is endeavoring 10 smooth
things over and the district officers 10 have the
operators recede from the position they have
taken but the breach only grows wider. and the
~ feeling increases An effort 10 have the
Cranberry local pass upon the question Of going
10 work resulted tonight in a unanimous vote
10 stay strike.
The strike to-day Was Of the workers al tn
Buck Mountain and the Vulcan locals OF The
NH Creek Coal Company, where the men,
rather than sign an agreement not 10 modest
the non-union miners. went out on strike
The nine hundred employed by Lentz d co.
AZ the Park No. oolliery have informed the
owners that they viii strike on Monday morning
unless twenty men who were discharged to-da'
are reinstated. These twenty were prominent n
the strike. and many Of them officers OF the
locals. The other workers claim that the COM
pany is blacklisting the men the officials do not
like
In the Panther Greek Valley the situation is
even more serious. There the Lehigh Coal ana
Navigation Company mas taken Ia apodN liilFS
thousand Of the six thousand regular employees
who went on strike. Work has been refused
10 many although some Of the mines Of the
company are waiting for men 10 work them
Those refused are strikers who for the last i've
months have been active in keeping the men in
line and some of them are under conviction for
riot and other violence. Places not only
being refused TO them, but the companies are
turning them out Of their houses. and. so the
l-sr-a ham
from the region. This alleged discrimination
has aroused the ire Of the men to such degree
that the feeling is very bitter. They want their
district board TO call out those working,
and declare another strike.
MEN DECIDE TO STAY OUT.
The situation in the Hazleton region was fur
Their complicated to-day by the action of the
locals which met and decided they would re-
main on strike. As this followed conference
OF two committees with President Mitchell. ii
is significant as meaning that he does not want
them 10 return 10 work if they are required to
sign the agreements the operators want signed.
The committees were from the Markle and the
Coke companies. What they reported and what
President Mitchell advised he viii not say. and
they have been told not to talk. They were in
conference with him for some time. and then
after their return the meetings were held.
The companies are firm also. They have told
the men they must either sign the agreements
or there is no work for them. Markle desires a
promise 10 abide by the decision OF the strike
commission the others want the men to promise
not 10 Ill treat or interfere with the non-union
men.
President Mitchell is worried about the situa-
tion through the region. and considers it 50
serious that he viii not talk about il. which is
one % his traits. II would he big feather in
his cap If. when he appears before the COM
m igginD AZ nufOp on1a ha rol1ld
say that all the strikers were back at work and
that there was friction. The fact that the
would not agree treat the non union
men properly is not readily understood by the
public Their objection is TO the non-union
men and their treatment of them. but TO signing
an agreement with the operators They want no
such agreement until they know what the COM
mission grants. They also assert that the
operators. against whose actions they protest
are the men who did not sign the arbitration
proposition and .nat il is not known where they
stand
President Mitchell viii so 10 Washington to-
morrow afternoon reaching there at midnight
N He would not discuss the conditions here, nor
81 say what evidence he would place before the
y commission. This is now nearly all in: the
district officers are gathering the remainder and
VIII submit il 10 Mitchell early next week
The situation at the mines OF the coal carry
ING companies. they report is gratifying. Their
men are working well and there is little com
plant, while the repairs TO the collieries are
advancing rapidly The Philadelphia and Read
ing has now tWenty-six out Of thirty-nine col
lieres working, and is mining ca per cent Of its
normal output The Delaware, Lackawsnna and
Western has all but one mine working and is
getting close 10 its normal output. while the
other coal carrying companies are mining be-
tween go and 30 per cent OF the normal
PROTEST AGAINST NEW ENGINEERS
The steam men are sim complaining because
all did not get their places. There is complaint
because the men consider some Of the engineers
incompetent, and this protest has resulted in
few being discharged. To-day al the Cont
mental oolliery the refused 10 be lowered by
non-union engineer, alleging that he was in
competent Mine Inspector Prytherch, who hap
pened 10 he present, conceded with the views Of
the men. and the old engineer was sent for and
he was put in charge Of the engines
The strike Is sim on the Richmond No 3
colliery OF the Ontario and Western comranv
The men al this mine refuse TO be lowered bv
the non-union engineers alleging they are in
competent The company refused TO reinstate
the old engineers The continuation on tbs
strike al this place is important so far as
u bears on the production Of coal FIRE is
raging there, and the lower workings have been
Hooded in an effort 10 eXtingldsh il
The 18th Regiment and Batteries a. B and Q
started to-day Cor home, and some Of the other
troops VIII follow as soon as conditions permit
They may all be taken out OF The upper re- !
g1on. where there has been only little Violence
within week but there is lrtle lilzelihoo6 az I
their being removed from the Schuvlkill ana
Shamokin districts FOR some time whore The dis
orders still continue. and the situation i con-
sidere6 dangerous. At Mahanov CITY ana N,icir-
lily, where there has been much use Of ay,ar,if,
the 18th Regiment stations guard OF two mn
each night al The homes Of non-unon men Will.
others patrol TIRE streets With the prosnact ~
several little strikes and the general dfsor1s~
this would entail. the commanding ofscere - /
not consider il safe 20 withdraw the troons In |
that region to-day the men got ten davs' I