Waterbury Democrat., 1902-05-16
MINERS FINISH BUSINESS.
District Officers Will Have Pow CT to Call Out Other Workers

The Strike Is Now In Full Blast and the Outcome Is Anxiously Awaited Mitchell Denies That Telegram Was
 Read in Convention from Senator Hanna
 Hazelton. May 16.-The miners con vention adjourned sine die at 1l:ao this morning. The delegates voted to leave the question of calling out the engineers. fremen and pumpmen 10 me district officers.
 Hazleton, Pa, May 16. The great coal strike which was inaugufateu permanently laste evening is now i'll full swing. There were no develop- ments previous to the re-assembllnS of the convention ill secret session shortly after o'clock this morning. From the gossip of the delegates II | is expected that the preparation 10 call out theN mine engineers, hrelneh and pump runners, thus endangerlng the safety of the mines, will meet with as much opposition as dfd the l motion to make the strike permanent. Those who advocated the continued suspension of work are as rule Ill favor of calling out these men. They argue that the more the mine owners are incony yenienced and harassed the sooner they will weaken and grant the men some slight concessions. Ine more conservative mine workers Tear that to call out the protectors of the mines would. be q boomerang that might prove extremely costly to the miners. It is argued by them Ihal the United Mine Workers organ1za- ton has all along followed the policy 1 of assisting the companies in protect ing their properties.
 One delegate said this morning: II am against calling out the engineers, firemen and pump runners because l believe the union should protect prop erty rather than stand by and see It go to destruction. If the convention decides to call out the men and the companies fail to fill their places nearly every mine in the region would fill with water, which would mean tre- mendous loss to the owners. It would take months to pump out this water, and in many cases the flooding or the workings would ruin them beyond all repair. Another dangerous feature would be the accumulation of gases.
 After the strike was over and the
 water has been pumped out the men would run a great risk in entering the mines"
 If the convention decides to call out | the en gineers, tiremen and pump run ners. it is not certain that the order would be obeyed by all of this class of mine workers. The union officials say that most of them belong to the union, but this is denied by the fire men, who insist that their organiza- ton, which is a separate one from the United Mine Workers, is quite strong numerically. The firemen'S ! union has somewhat complicated the situation by proposing to the mine workers that they will go out volun- tarily if the latter will back them up in the demands that they may make upon the operators. The miners of ficia1s have refused to commit them sselves on this proposition and it will likely be fought ont on the floor of the 1conTention.
 Mir Mitchell said to-day that the re port that. a telegram from Senator Hanna was read in the icony ention be fore the vote was taken on the strike question is absolutely untrue. AIr Mitchell also brands as false the state ment that he had been visited by representative of Senator Hanna with the proposition that the miners accept a five per cent increase in wages. | HAZLETON, Pa, May 16.-The an l tflracite mine workers in convention 1 have decided to continue the strike of 1 the 145 000 men against the mine own
 CTS and to fight it out to the bitter end 1 The matter of calling out the engi- neers. fremen and pump runners will l be decided by the delegates today. The ] vote to continue the suspension was as l follows: Total vote cast. S11; fer strike, | 46l14; against strike 34Ss4; majority
 for strike, 1111a. President Mitchell,
 however, iii compliance with the rules
 of the United Mine Workers, announc- ] ed to the public that the action of the l convention was unanimous.
 1 The step taken by the miners after
 practically considering the matter for
 two months past has wiped out the un- l certainty of the situation, and it is freely predicted that the most serious 1 labor struggle in the history of the | COA1ltIy IL HUI III tAc N Ol1O lS dOOCt Lu l begin. That is the view taken by near 1 ly every miner. While the leaders are
 cautious and will not forecast their ac-
 tions. 1t is not unlikely that the miners | fight will be carried into the bitumi- I nous coal regions and into other fields
 of industry
 Mine workers for eighteen months l have been looking forward to the strike
 that Is now upon them. They have saved their money and are considered
 to be in better shape today flor fight
 than they were in tlie great strike of 1900. That struggle ended in the mine owners giving the men 10 per cent | advance after q six weeks suspension. The operators are on record as being unalterably opposed to granting the 1 men any concessions, and they have personally informed the mine workers
 leaders of that fact The workmen fear
 that the present fight may mean the | destruction of their organization, be- cause they believe that the mine own CTS are bent more on wreeking their union than they are in opposing the de
 mands for higher wages and shorter
 workdays.