The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-08-21
OPERATORS FEEL MUCH ENCOURAGED. MT. Maben Says About 1900
 Men Are at Work MINERS ALSO CONFIDENT Big Rally Held Near Dolomlte Yesser day, Where a Large Crowd of
 Miners Were Addressed By
 Mir. Fairey and Others.
MINERS ALSO CONFIDENT

without discriminating between union and rcnunion workers.
 J. c. Maben president of the soss- Sheffield company said yesterday that ac- cording to his estimates there were about 15O0 miners now at work In the mines affected by the strike.
 Our progress is much more satsfac- | tory than we at first expected" said Mr. Maben, 'and we are now getting the mines filled rapidly. The output of coal Is ceretainly in excess of what we had an- ticipated. According to my information the Woodward company has as many men as are needed at Dolomite.
 Engineers and Jumpers Numerous.
 We have had no trouble in securing bumpers and engineers. All of the com panies found no difficulty, so I under stand, in the matter of bumpers. Almost as soon as the old men went out new ones were ready to take their places.
 Yes. the situation is very encourag-
 
 every ,nine in the district is turning out substantial amount of coal daily"
 MT. Buck of the Lacey-Buek company was very much pleased at the situation yesterday. "We are getting our mines filled iapidly," said MT. Buck, "and l do nat anticipate any trouble. We are sim ply running along attending to our own business and all that can say is that am satisfied and very much encouraged az tle outlook
 Miners Are Confident.
 At the headquarters of the United Mine Workers there is the same air of conh- dence which has permeated that place for the last three weeks. We have heard nothing that would cause us to be dis couraged in the least" said President Flynn, 'and reports from every local show that the men are remaining firm and loyal to the organization. A meeting was held on the grass at Sayreton today and President James Orange of that local re- ports all the men determined. He says that not a union man has returned to work That is the kind Of communica- tions and reports we are receiving from everywhere. It Is true that a number men went to work at Dolomite for the Woodward company, but that was due to the disaffection just previous to the strike when an attempt was made to surrender the charter of the local. We were not surprised at some of the men going to work there.
 Another Contract Signed.
 we signed contract with the Central Coal company. which operates mines at Kimberly, yesterday" continued MT. Flynn. This company is what Is known as a commercial company and employs between 300 and 400 men. MT. B. F. Roden is president of the company. The scale signed was the same as that of last year, which provides for 471k cents as a minimum price for mining coal"
 While talking MT. Flynn was handed a letter scrawled on common wrapping pa per and signed by negro woman, who was evidently writing for several negro men. The letter was dated from Brook side, and said that some negroes had been put to work In the mines, having been told that there was no trouble. They called on the union miners to help them out.
 After struggling With the crude epistle for some time MT. Flynn said that he knew nothing about the matter, further than the information contained in the letter.
 4oIr ooff oc1ra q don't know exactly what action I could take,' said MT. Flynn as he again tried to figure out the handwriting while he and the crowd around him laughed at his efforts. These negroes may be good miners but they certainly never took any prizes in penmanship and spelling"
 Rally at DoIomite.
 William R. Fairley. national board member. and MT. Flynn accompanied by William Kirkpatrick, an official of the American Federation of Labor. attended a rally at Hughes .-prings, near Dolomite yesterday. The affair was an all day picnic and barbecue participated in by the union miners and their families There were about 1000 persons at the gath ering and several speeches were made during the day. The principal speakers were MT. Fairley. MT. Kirkpatrick and Vice-President Greer. Mir. Flynn's talk did not last more than five minutes, the president explaining that he would yield all his time to the other speakers.
 The miners attending this meeting were those who have quit work at the Wood ward Iron company's mines. and in view of the fact that more men have gone to work for that company, in proportion, than any other in the district, the gather ing was looked upon as of considerable importance.
 Mr. Fairley Spoke.
 In his address MT. Fairley urged the men to remain firm and gave them a con- else rsview of the situation since the strike be gan, about four weeks ago. He said it was the expressed intention of some of the operators ito whip out the union." and he promised that they would get run for their money
 When the speaking had concluded vote was taken and those present voted unan- mously to remain out of the mines and loyal to the union until a settlement had been reached.
 MT. Farley will leave for Tennessee Monday night where he will attend the joint convention of miners and opera tors which will be held in an effort to fix scale in that district. The scale in Ten nessee is fixed on fiat basis. instead of sliding basis as in the Birmingham dis trict As matter of fact the Alabama district and the anthracite region of Penn sylvania are the only districts in the country where a sliding scale prevails The miners of Tennessee ara oskfno for