The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-18
in THE FIELD OF LABOR
WEST VIRGINIA WILL PROBABLY
BE INVOLVED IN STRIKE.
A Review of the Conditions in That
State-LocaI and General
Labor News.

That West Virginia Will be the first
bituminous coal district 10 be involved in
general strike. should one extend from the
anthracite field, is indicated by the feeling
IN that ST e. The organized miners them
selves want TO strike. and being now in
the majority they would be able to control
the State. There have been a number of
incidents recently in West Virginia that
have got the miners stirred up 10 fighting
point a couple of weeks ago Thomas
Burke national organizer from the miners
from Illinois and William Morgan. ma
ticnaI board member from Ohio. were as
saulted on the streets of Fairmont One
Of the assailants shot at Burke but missed
him and Morgan was attacked with a
billy" The assailants were said to have
been in the employ Of the Fairmont Coal
Company. which is az the head OF COM
bination that has recently been taking up
all the mines and plants in the State.
The action Of the combination has also
had much to do with stirring up the miners
TO fever heat in discharging the officers of
the unions, picked out by spoilers. and
resembling leases on their homes. Follow
ing is copy of the notice the miners re-
ceive after the combine" gets control of
plant:
You are hereby notified that the under
signed. FairmOnt Coal Company, has pur-
chased the mining plant and property of
the Riverside Mining Company including
the real estate occupied by you under lease
from said company
You are further notified that your serv-
ices will be no longer required at said plant
and that you are hereby discharged.
You are further notified that under the
terms Of said lease, the same is terminated
and that you are required TO Immediately
leave said leased premises and To
render possession thereof to the Fairmont
Coal Company.
THE leased premises so occupied by you
and which you are hereby required to leave
and vaeate, is the house and real estate
numbered -, and now occupied by you
and your family at said Riverdale plant in
Harrison county. West Virginia"
MINERS FINED.
For failure to comply with this notice
the miners are summoned before a justice
OF the peace and assessed SO damages for
the unlawful detention of the property.
This perhaps, is the most obnoxious thing
TO the miners that they have had to con-
tend with since the "iron-clad" agreement
was presented about year ago for them
TO sign. This agreement provided that the
miners could not leave the employ of the
company without its consent. and for viO-
lation of any part of the agreement the
miner Immediately forfeited the lease TO his
home. As the leaders are being sought out
and discharged they are now becoming
more bold and a strike is brewing that is
likely TO follow close on the anthracite.
The last issue of the United Mine Work.
ers Journal contains a column of figures
taken from the reports of the Bureau Of
Statistics Of Pennsylvania relating to con-
dttiOns and wage scales in the anthracite
region, under the title THE Reason" Fol-
lowing is in substance the article:
Total number of cOllieries involved. 357;
total number of employees, 1882. There
are, as will be seen by the figures. 1882
mine workers. Their daily pay equals $751;
509-Or a little over SIS per day per man.
These 1887 mine workers earned $36, 1923 600
last year That means that they were paid
trihe over S24S for their years work.
There are generally 3l3 working days in a
year. These men worked 1914 days last
year. 4 nat Il, they averaged SI.zS per uay
Tor 1874 days last year That means that
their daily wage averaged a trif1e over 70
cents day for year. They asked a beg
carly 10 per cent. advance upon 70 cents,
which, if granted. their daily wage would
average So cents during the year. Most of
the miners families live in a company
house Few, if any, of these houses orig
fnally cost $3.50. The monthly rent runs
from 50 TO IS. Take il at lowest figure-$3-
ana the yearly rent amounts TO $50 Then
there Is the company" doctor. That is,
the company selects a physician and all
men employed by it must pay that doctor
Willy n1lly. At the lowest possible figure
that means each man must pay Sc per year
for doctor he may not need and whom he
does not use if he needs physician.
MUST BUY OIL.
''Then he must buy oil amounting at
a
40 cents per gallon. Then comes the pow
der. Powder is used almost exclusively in
mining coal The mine inspectors reported
that there were used during the year 1900
1.237.1S0 kegs Of powder in the anthracite
region. The average price of key of DOW
der is s1.75 The total amount paid for pow
der was then $2.165,065. That sum divided
among the 1898 employees shows that the
powder Dill for each averaged over S14
ENrflr hon hau-
Yearly earnings--................
kent ..............--............ $50
Ou ---..--...--................
Powder ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. IA
$61
(which would leave S1S7 for food, clothes.
tools, shoes, church. That is to say that
they had a little over SIS for each month
for living expenses. According to the re-
port of the r. G. Dun Company. the great
which cost S72.45 on July I. 1897. cost in De-
cember. 1901, Sl0l57, an increase of about 81
Per cent me same articles cost to-day,
according TO the same authority, $l09.26.
Since 1897 these miners have had an in
crease of 10 per cent. in wages. But be it
remembered that the prices quoted in
Dun's are those where competition is rife
There is no competition in mining town.
There is a store owned by the company
you pay their prices or quit work These
prices range from TO 100 per cent. higher
than in adjoining towns where there is
competition. Inc miners were given a 10
per cent advance. Immediately the goods
in the store were advanced to double that
amount. Where coal is mined by the car
each car was made more than 10 per cent.
larger. Where IL is mined by the ton an
elaborate system was put in vogue to on
set the 10 per cent. advance. The COM
pandes claim twenty-eight hundred for a
ton. Each hundred of those twenty-eight
are actually III pounds so that the miner
gives 3,1S6 pounds for a ton. They claim
they pay on an average of 20 cents for
their ton. They pay on an average 20
cents for 3136 pounds, or a little over A
cents for a legal ton, subject in the final
analysis TO the whims, malice and incOm-
petence of a creature called the dock
boss" This boss has q bell at his elbow
and every time IL rings luckless miner
has 500 pounds taken from his car. II is
not a matter Of record that any of these
beIl-ringers' arms are atroDhied from lack
of use II is clearly within the bounds Of
truth TO say that between the bell-ringer
and the ton the companies get 40 per
cent OF their coal mined free"
The Sawmakers Adjourn.
The national convention Of the sawmak-
srs finished its business yesterday. The
principal work was the adoption OF the