Evening journal., 1902-12-12
REFUSED TO TELL 5
PRICE Or COAL
President of Peoples Company
sHf on Stand Before Strike +
AA y ? Commissioners. Il.
COMPANIES MAY ASE-tQR Time
Scranton. Pn.. Dec. 12.-rKlel

Scranton, Pa. Dec. 12.-THe repre-
--sentatives of the miners during. the
course of yesterdays proceedings be-
fpre the anthracite coal strike com
mission called one of the Independent
operators to the witness-stand to tell
the exact price he received for his !
coal, and the mine owner refused, CIV
Ing instead, after much questioning, an
average of the price he received. The /
operator was ]. L. Crawford, presi-
dent of the Peoples Coal Company.
which operates the Oxford colliery in 1
Scranton. The request for him totalxe !
the stand came as surprise, The OK
ford colliery during the strike managed
to get enough men TO operate thel
plant, and for one month, accordingly
to Mr.. Crawford, his company receivedH
$50 a ton for its coal. Objection was
raised to the miners lawyers trying,l
to get him to tell what he received
from the Delaware, Lackawanna andfl
Western Company for its product, butI
the witness was permitted to proceed
to be examined for what IL was worth,
the commission stating that the excep-.
tional high price of coal during thel
strike was not pertinent to the pres
ent inquiry.
The miners announced that they ex-
pected to close their case on Satur-
day, and thus gave notice to the. other
side to be ready to proceed with their
testimony. In reply the companies an
nounced that they may have TO ask
for a short recess In order to properly
prepare their case Judge Gray, for
the commission, in reply said he hoped
there would be no interruption in the
proceedings and that the companies
will be able to proceed as soon as theA
miners have concluded their case.
From the large number of witnesses
yet to be called by the miners it is not
likely that they will finish their case.
on Saturday.
At the afternoon session two wit
nesses, employed by the Delaware
Lackawanna and Western Company,
were called, and each testified that
before the 1900 strike the men where.
they worked received 94ieents a car,
and that the strike was ended by the.
company agreeing to give the men an
increase in wages, of 10 pei, cent, 21s'
per cent, aips. cash and the other 7A.
per cent, to be considered in the re-
duction in the price Of powder. In
stead of receiving the increase they
now get three cents a car hess or 81
cents. They did. not know why it was
reduced. In cross-examinatisn the
company produced figures which
showed that one of the witnesses earn
ed an average Of $4.23 a day for IL
days worked in November The wit
ness claimed that he went into the
mine 25. days during the month, One Of
the same witnesses handed in a state
ment which was given him some time
ago by mine superintendent, show
ing that there were seven sizes ofmine.
cars in the colliery where, Ae-worked
The witness said the same wages are.
paid for filling all of them.
Patrick O'Boyle, a miner, gave the
history of Increase in the size of the
miners ton from 2.240 pounds to 3, 1885,
He said that 25 years ago sizesrp under
pea coal we're not used, and therefore
It was dumped on the refuse pile and
the ton raised to S.136 in order that
the companies could get out 2,24O
pounds of marketable COAL At pres
ent the companies are using coal three
. or four sizes under pea, and the men
are not being paid for it.
John William Grifith.- superiptend.
ent of schools of Nanticoke, near
Wilkesbarre, was called to the stand
to show that miners children do not
- go as high. in the school grades asfthe
children of other parents, which cor
roBorates testimony given by other
school superintendentss who were on
the stand. ~ al
Father ODonnell, who was on the
= stand yesterday forenoon was--re-
called for cross-examination. He had
personal knowledge of only one case
OF violence, and did not see other acts
of Iawlessness committed in OlEphant,
where he was stationed. but believed
newspaper accounts were exaggerated
lido you believe in boycotts?" asked
re Judge Gray. The witness replied that
t0lhe believed he had the right not tc
Ideal OF associate with a person who
30 did something that he did not like OF
that was contrary to his interests.
r' y II go along with you that far" sale
the chairman. How much further
would you go? For instance, have
You a right to. boycott me il / .shonli
deal .eF. associate with~-sueh--a per
SOM" sparef.ed tsfe
mo sir; neither would eommi
violence"
,"That.is right We draw the line a
the same point"
mo n IL ft1-' b..
~-rs..f.r 49, a. nro,arad npk