The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-05
Mr.. MARKLE'S REPLY
He Denies Most Of the Stories Of
Abuse and Hard Treatment
/. Of the Miners.
He Says the Company Store and the
Company Doctor Were Not
Compulsory.

SSS EeS~AJ
Company Doctor Were Not
Compulsory.
Philadelphia, Jan. 6.-The answer Of G,
B. Markle & Co, independent coal oper-
ators, to the demands Of the miners, was II
made public yesterday and was In part,
as, follows s,s. 80 eslsi ~
From the time Of my first connecticut
with the business, In 1885,, there has al
ways. been a resident physician and assist
ant physicians upon the property, until
recently, with the exception Of a short
interval The firm selected the head ply
stefan, who chose his assistants. and We
collected rs cents month for the mar
rled men; and 50 cents q. month for the I
single men over 81. and the amount cql-5
lected was paid over to the physician
without charge or deduction therefor. This
arrangement was not compulsory upon the
men or families ;G : ~ IS -'sg.F
Stores for the sale of general nler-
chandise and Of miners supplies have
always been maintained upon the prop
erty, and have been and are an accomno-
dalton to the men and their families. The
men have never been required to deal
there - ~" sGs..95. r. ..~a.
Continuing. the answer says a sliding
scale basis Of labor had been agreed upon
III 1910 ana naQ IndL tlIOe Oe9n gem
| orally In force in the Lehigh region. In
| September. 1897, a committee Of miners
presented certain demands to the, firm.
| An agreement was then in existence be-
! tween, the company and men to settle
differences by arbitration. The company
| replied to the demands and received no
| further communication from the miners.
Work at the mines continued uninter-
rupted until the latter part Of 1900 when
John Mitchell made his headquarters at
| Hazelton and endeavored to organize the
Markle employees. - IT, SIX -
In September, 1900, another list Of griev-
ances was furnished the firm. the COM
pany's answer being that II the men were
not satisfied with the reply the officers
would be willing to arbitrate The next
| communication from the men demanded
arbitration but the committee selected by
the employees reported that the latter had
| broken their agreement with the company
by striking before their grievances had
| been submitted to arbitration. Finally on
| Oct ~, 1900, committee Of the men APP
! pealed to the firm for an adjustment OF the
| differences. That was accomplished and
on Oct 20 work was resumed at the mines.
! The answer further states: -. -. a..
| Between 1900 and 1902 many requests
were made for the correction of alleged
grievances which were all taken up and
| considered and acted upon; but neither in
| dividuaily nor collectively, orally nor in
writing did the men make any complaint
in reference to the method Of collecting
the dues for the doctors or the prizes; nor
was attention called to any, defect TN re-
| spect to ventilation; or unfair treatment
| at the store nor as to the size Of the
cars; nor as to the slope, cleaning; or the
docking, until April, 1902, and we had
every reason to believe that, taken as a
| WHOLE the men we're entirely satisfied
with the condition Of their employment.
IN he If Ia he a
! ton. complaint was made of the size Of the
cars, but In reality the size has not been
! changed, will be proved by the testi
mony Of the builders, who will be pro-
duced It was also alleged that the dock
| ing was excessive, but the accountant will
testify that it was less than 2 per cent.
Objection was also made that the full 10
per cent advance was not given The
| manner in which the advance was com :
puted was repeatedly explained to- the
men,, and 1t will be shown by the expert
| accountant that it was correctly calcu-
lated" - ~ Z ~. - ..~'
As to the Commission. 49,.
Referring to the appointment Of the
commission Mr.. Markle says:
| LAS we had not been parties to the cor
respondence under which the anthracite
strike commission was appointed, and the
strike declared off, we were not willing to
permit our men to return to work with
would abide by the award to be made by
the commission. Notice was accordingly
posted that those wishing to secure en-
ployment should call ut the office and
should bring with them the brass checks
which they had. When this notice was
posted we were informed that the men
should be taken back in a body, and the
rumor was started to the effect that they
would be required to sign an iromclad
agreement, as a condition Of going to
work. Many Of the notices We're torn
down, pickets stationed In the neighbor-
hood OF the office and along the lines Of
road, to prevent the men from coming to
the office, where they might have learned
the truth, and arranged for resumption
Of work. -.:. -.
Meanwhile I had been informed that
the same men who had been making
trouble during the strike were taking q
leading part in intinaidating and threaten
ing any one coming to the office and re-
turning to work under the conditions
specified. On the morning Of Monday
Oct. q, 1902, I ordered notice to give ur
possession Of the house to the served upon
twelve men who had been active in pre-.
venting the men from resurning work. Nc
attempt was made to collect the arrears
of rent which had accrued during the
strike, and the notice to quit having beer
served Oct. Fl, judgment in ejectment was
entered Nov s. and the parties were
evicted Nov. 6, 1902 -...,. L.. ~.
The net earnings Of the evicted men fol
the year 1901. according to the statement
varied from $3.50 to $1,000. -, =.
The answer further states that thu
father Of the boy Chippie was killed as
result Of his own. negligence. He was no
indebted to the firm at tho time OF hi.
death. His earnings for the previous st1
months from February to July, inclusive
amounted to $3.50. Mrs. Chippie pait
nothing on account of rent or coal. : :. -
Henry Coll, one of the evicted men, has
always received good wages, Mr.. Marlle
states. The answer asserts that his wife
did not die in consequence Of the eviction
| which occurred Nov. 6. and she lived unit
! December. -, i ?, e. g. ~. -
! Z Attached to the answer are several ex
| hibits, one Of which Is a statement show
| ing the earnings Of certain contract min
/ ers during eleven and one-half months
/ including eleven of the highest earner
and five of the lowest, the highest receiv
| ing $4,000 and the lowest $500. 80. =. 4.
California, via tourist, Over the Roct
III >.s Island ny. =
In selecting a. route to California the al
fftnde and climate Of the country trAv