The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-05-17
SCOPE OF TIE COAL STRIKE
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l (Contlnued from First PaSe.)
 of the United Mine Workers, a petition
 signed by five mine workers districts is
 necessary to call a special convention, The three anthracite districts are unan-
 imous for such a meeting, and it is
 likely that the West Virginia district
 and the Michigan district will consent
 to the issuance of the call The two
 latter districts now have small but
 stubborn strikes in progress ana they
 will doubtless consent to the clll sl
 that they, too may receive the benefit
 of whatever may be accomplished.
 National Secretary Treasurer w. N. Wilson, of Indianapolis, said to-day that within the next two or three weeks,
 regardless of the special convention, 30000 men in Virginia and West Nir ginia and from 15,000 to 70 900 in the soft coal region of Central Pennsylvania will be on strike. They will be called out, he said, for the purpose of forcing the mine owners to give them higher wages and incidentally to help the an- thracite workers These men, he went on to say, are partly organized, local unions having been established in all
 
 confident that the non-union men would respond to the strike call as readily as did the anthracite miners in the fall of 1900.
 A point has been raised that the United Mine Workers cannot call out the men employed by companies with whom the miners have yearly contracts or wage agreements, but Secretary Will son said that such is not the case. He said that the mine workers organiza- tion respects all such agreements or contracts, but added that general con- vention has power to abrogate them if it deems such action necessary.
 The correspondent of the Associated Press made an effort to learn what steps, if any, had been taken in the di- rection of sympathetic strike of other trades unions. It was learned that some of the labor leaders of the country had informally discussed such a move ment some time before the present strike was inaugurated, but that no definite plan presented itself. Such strike, it was thought would probably not be inaugurated for several months and only in the event that the union was in danger of going to pieces.
 The matter of calling out the engi- neers, f1remen and pump-runners from the anthrac acite mines to allow the work ings to become flooded and damaged was left by the convention to the dis erection of the national and district off cers, What they will do cannot be def1- ! nitely learned just now, but it seems probable that they will be permitted to remain at work.
 It was said at strike headquarters to- day by an official that the United Mine l Workers organization has all along fol- | lowed policy of protecting mine prop erty on the ground that the destruc- ton of accumulated wealth. as a rule, | affected the workmen sari- ! ously.
 Notwithstanding that 145000 men have been idle for the last five days, no of any kind have been re- ported here.
 President Mitchell had no news to | give out beyond his statement. He said that he has had no communication with any one bearing on settlement of the strike.
 The coal companies continue their for a long struggle. Mine mules are being brought to the surface and placed at pasture, clerks and other employees are being laid off and other steps have been taken to keep down ex- 1enses. The coal-carrying railroad com oanies are laying off coal-train crews every day, and the local electric rail- 'oad company, which has lines to all he surrounding towns, has reduced it's 'ervice 50 per cent. and placed its em- K )loyes on half time.
 Business generally is stagnant. and 'oal in this section is becoming very carce.