The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-17
THE ERIE co. FINISHES
SCRANTON COAL COMPANY NOW
 BEING HEARD.
Mine Foremsn Testify That the unior Operates to Restrict Output and Destroy Discipine-state-
 ment of Wages.

Philadelphia, Jan 16-Moro mine of fcials today informed the coal strike commissioners that under the influence of | the union the mine workers restricted the production of anthracite coal and inter fered with the discipline of the em- ployes.
 The Erie Company closed it's case early
 in the day after calling physician. who
 testified to the good health of the mine workers.
 The Scranton Coal Company, which op-
 crates, besides its own, the collieries of the Elk HiI Coal and Iron Company. took up the attack on the demands of
 the miners. The Scranton and the Elk
 Hill companies turn their coal over to the
 New York, Ontario and Western Rail-
 road. which virtually controls them The witnesses called today testified gen. erally that no blacklist existed: that the contract miners worked on an average of from six to seven hours a day; that the local unions compelled the men to load
 an equal number of cars. thus restrict ing the output; that the men were care | less in obeying orders, and that frequent
  man was dismissed for insubordination. One inside formean, in his testimony, said the employment of check weighmen. | insisted upon by the union, had proved to | be good thing for the company because | the miners sent to the surface cleaner coal.
 Frank L. Northrup, bookkeeper and ac- countant of the Scranton Company. ex- | plained the several statements he had I handed to the commission for the com pany. The wage statement for the year
 1902 showed that 7ss men worked less | than four months and received under | s400; 265 worked more than four months and received between s4Oo and $500; 260 worked more than four months and earn | ed between $500 and $500; 1G worked near y full time and received between $500 and I $700; 7S worked full time and received be- tween s70o and $500; 9 earned from $500 I to soO0; three earned from $900 to $1,0O0. l and three received more than S1.o0o. The witness presented a statement | showing the average doclxage at the three collieries. At the Pine Brook ,colliery be-
 fore the check docking boss was employ- l ed the average dockage was S.u per cent. After he was employed it fell to 1.T. At the Mount Pleasant colliery it was 4.A, l and after the check man was put on 1t fell to 2.30. At the Johnson mine the
 average was e.4e and then SIP per cent. James Smith of Peck Hill. inside fore-
 man at three coilieries, gave instances
 of characterization on the part of the mine workers. The foreman said that the men stayed
 in the mines about an hour longer since
 the company started to keep their time, but that the amount of coal had not in- creased much. He also said that men who went to the soft coal regions when the strike began, returned as soon as 1t
 was oyer. They told him that the work
 in the bituminous region was harder, that
 they could not do so well, nor was the
 living as good as in the hard coal fields
 In reply to Commissioner Watkins, the
 witness said the company had lost two or three half days on account of the scar city of railroad cars.