Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-01-30
THE DATES ARE SET
Miners and Operators Fix Time for
Conventions.
PROPOSED Law INTERESTS THEM
Representative N. e. kendaIrs Bill for
an Investigating Commission to
Look Into Matter of Causes of and
Remedies for Explosion.

The dates for the three conventions
which will be held at Des Moines dur
ing February and March for the pur-
pose of deciding the scale Of wages
and the conditions of work for the
coal miners for the coming year have
been set definitely, the last one being
fixed at meeting held yesterday
The first convention is that OF the
Iowa Operators association, which
will be held at Des Moines beginning
February Is. One week from that
date, February %, the joint coHven-
ton of the scale committees repre-
senting the miners and operators will
meet to arrange q scale for the year,
and after another week en- March 4,
the miners of district No. 10 will come
together; or, rather, their delegates
will convene, for the purpose of ratify-
Ing the scale or amending it to be re-
ferred back to the scale committee
and to transact such other business as
shall come before the convention
The passage of the bill which is now
before the state legislature and which
was passed in the house yesterday, af-
ter being amended so as to provide for
commission of seven men instead of
nineteen as was the original provision
in the bill as prepared by Representa-
tive N. E. Kendall of Abba, will no
doubt have some effect upon the ques-
ton of shot firers, which is being agi-
tated by the miners of the state. This
bill provides for a commission to in
yestigate explosions which occur in
mines and suggest, if possible to do
SO, remedies for such disasters as the
one which occurred at Lost Creek last
Friday.
A prominent coal operator who is
known all over the state was inter-
viewed today by a Courier representa-
tive regarding the advisability and
practicability of such law, should it
be passed by the senate. He said
that the bulk of the miners and oper-
ators in the state would probably be
in favor of it. Shot firers,' he said,
will not lessen the number of eXplo-
sions. They will only lessen the num-
Der of lives to be lost. 1t is rather
cold blooded to look at the matter in
this light, but it is nevertheless true.
What is wanted, continued the OPP
orator SIS some plan to do away with
! explosions. The operators will vel
4 come such plan as gladly as will the
miners, for there is nothing an opera
/ tor hates like having an accident in
his mine. But, IN my opinion, and in
the opinion of many others, the estab-
lishment of rule providing for Shot
firers in all the mines is not as good a
one as the passage of such a law as
| that proposed yesterday by Represe-
sentative Kendall. The shot frer
cannot be expected to watch all the
shots as they are being prepared and
he is therefore just as liable as is
any one else to fire ssGuealer-' AS
sure as he does this he will be killed.
OF course that is only one death as
against many, but what We want is no
deaths at all.
"This can be brought about, If 1t
can be brought about at. all. by the
appointment of a commissioners propos-
} ed by Mr.. Kendall. If this is done,
and care is used in selecting the COM
missioners, they can spend their time
in investigating explosions and in try
ing to invent some plan FOR doing
away with them. While do not con,
tend that the maintenance of shot fir
ers would be something of an improve
ment over the present plan, still
think that a plan can be worked out
which will be much more beneficial
than That nf having shot Scers-