The Mena weekly star., 1910-04-07
HE MINERS STRIKE
INDICATIONS POINT TO A LONG DRAWN our STRUGGLE IN
 THE SOUTHWEST.
SOME HOPE IN OTHER DISTRICTS
Optimistic Reports Predicting an Early Settlement are Coming in, But Much Time Win be Consumed in Arguing on New Scale.

Chicago, April 3-While optimistic reports are everywhere stating that an early settlement of the coal strike is sure to come the indications are that jn Illinois at least it would be ilnpos. sible 10 come to an agreement inside of 35 days.
 During that time, however, there will be no shortage of coal locally as there Is sufIicent above ground to last that long al least The railroads and big manufacturers have supplies that will last for 60 days or more
 In Illinois the situation is so uncer. tain that neither the operators nor miners will foretell when a settlement will be reached This is because C the dispute as 10 whether the oper. tors or miners shall pay the shot firers.
 The strike will never be settled until the operators agree 10 pay tn, shot firers.r said Secretary Duncah Macdonald in Springfield
 Then the strike will never be SC.
 ted" said E. T Bent. of the lllinoir Operators association after being told of Mir. MacDonald's statement.
 Macdonald who has been president of the miners for the past year became secretary yesterday and John Walker took his place as president. Mac Donald is chairman Of the joint scale committee of Illinois operators and miners.
 On arriving in Springfield he called up A. ]. MoFehead president Of the | Illinois Operators association at East St. Louis and arranged for a meeting in Chicago of the scale committee for April IT, Both the operators and min.
 CTS state that the scale committee will
 require two or three weeks to come to any sort of an agreement even if both sides are anxious for a settlement. 1 Then the committee would have 10 re port to a joint convention of miners and operators to be held in Springfield. This convention would pass upon whatever agreement is made by the joint scale committee AS nothing will be done for eleven days and then three weeks OI uiOIt VIII bC h'NNo'otf hS' the miners and operators to decide up on a contract the statement that there cannot possibly be settlement of the srike in less than s days is accepted by all interested as conservative. The meeting of the operators and
 miners at Des Moines agreed upon the
 latter furnishing engineers, hremen and pumpmen to keep the mines Tn order and free of water during the sus' pensiou. The miners agreed to fur. nish the men provided they were given an advance of 5.55 per cent above the | nresent wages. It was also agreed that men should be furnished to sink 1 n.r shafts. install hauling plants, l huild stables and make other neces l sary improvements. The miners m all the states will make provisions for | these purposes
 Down in the southwest there is no
 hone of a settlement within at least sO days. The Central Coal and Coke com many of Kansas City produces 9,000,00C of the f3,000,O ,OO0 tons of coal mined annually in the southwest The or ficials of the company state that the
 competition of fuel oil and gas in tha'
 territory makes an increase m miners
 wages impossible.
 Ohio miners say they are conhden' | that a settlement will be reached
 within A short time but as there art
 so many complications in that state
 this is considered doubtful
 In Indiana the miners convention
 at Terre Haute agreed to furnish mel
 to protect the mines from water ant | fire The joint meeting to be held neX
 Wednesday with the operators is no I nkelv to reach any agreement Int
 operators are wilnng to pay the ao
 vance in wages asked but there are
 dozen differences over working con 1 dtions that will make t imposslpie It Is said, to bring about set'ielien'