Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1913-07-25
STRIKE IS
PROBABLE AT
MINES
MICHIGAN STATE TROOPS ARRIVE
At CALUMET, AND SITUATION
IS NOW SETTLED DOWN TO AN
ENDURANCE CONTEST. LITTLE
DISORDER As YET.
OPERATORS REFUSE
MINERS A CONFERENCE

Calumet, Mich, July 25.-With si
militia companies on duty and othe
state troops enroute from both thu
upper and lower peninsulas of Michi
gan, the strike of copper miners Sc.
routine today. the third of its exist
ence. Some of the more enthusiastic
union members organized parades anc
marched through several locations
but there was practically no disorder
up to noon.
The union leaders held fast to theil
previous attitude, demanding recos
milton of the Western Federation oi
Miners as sine qua non, but this
was not even considered by the com
pany managements. The pinch Of
strike conditions, however, spread
more gradually through the score or
more of communities dependant on the
mines, mills and smelters.
The action of Hancock retailers in
refusing further credit to customers
yesterday was repeated in other se"-
tons of the district and it was an
nounced that the wholesalers would
take similar action Monday. AS a
consequence there was little Of the
holiday spirit which frequently shows
itself in the initial stages of mine
strikes. Union and non-union men
al; e,I, thoi, inti ,f tha
fact that the strike was likely to ev'
Give into long siege with the COM
panies abandoning work of a'l kinds
as rapidly as conditions required such
action. At union Headquarters, plans
were laid for a big mass meeting
next Sunday and for district and local
meetings tonight and tomorrow and
Guy r. Miller, Colorado member Of
the executive board of the Western
Federation of Miners. issued state
ment in which he compared conditions
in the Calumet district with those in
other copper producing sections
"The cause of the strike here was
deep-seated unrest whose exten. the
company management failed to realize.
In asking recognition of the union, an
oight-hour day. abolition of the one
man drill and improved working con
ditions generally. we have simply
tried to put the miners and surface
workers of the Lake Superior mines
On par with men in similar work in
other parts of America.
Butte, for instance, the minimum
wage with copper at fifteen cents is
1915 day for underground men and
in no case does it go below $3.50. IN
Arizona it averages $375, but in the
Calumet district the minimum is from
50 to $3.50 and the men here have
been working from ten to thirteen
mining sections hours constitutes 4
days labor. These facts effectualy
dispose of any argument by the COM
pany that competitive conditions in
the metal markets compelled them to
keep their men on the long hours and
low wages basis that have prevailed
here"
"Insistence on the abolition of the |
one-man drill is made on similar !
grounds and also because the men EN-
ployed on them undergo back break
ing labor and peculiarly dangerous
The minimum weight to
be handled on such a drill is $50 |
pounds and it is strenuous task to
Recognition of the union, we feel,
is a reasonable request inasmuch as
we think that men who work in a
given industry should be allowed some
voice in determining conditions under
which that industry is to be conducted.
THE attempt to improve conditions
lere came to a climax July IA when
he Federation sent a request to all
he companies that within a week
hey set date for conference. One
company refused to acknowledge that
such a letter had been received. The
,thers merely placed them on file, but
'ouchsafed no reply. There was moth
ng for the men to do then except
trike and | believe the companies
we're considerably surprised by the
,Xtent of the movement"
AT the Baltis location a body of
trikers clashed with deputies, remov- {
ng their stars and ordering them '
way. The mine management consid- I
red calling for troops when one of
he officers was beaten, but the dis +;
urbance ended quickly, and the union t
nen marched away to other mines on
he south range. ,
Calumet, Mich, July 25.-Whether {
lie coming of state troops to the cop.
er country means an end to violence
J.: fresh outbreaks was the chief sub. ,
act of discussion in Calumet today.
iany look for clashes despite the {
clicy of the Western Federation OF
liners against the use of force by
lac men.
Brigade headquarters will be in Cal
met, the troops pitching tents about
he armory and adjacent fields. {
Many strikers gathered about Mum {
,er Two Calumet and Hecla shaft,
nut made no demonstration They
rreatened however, to go to the Su.
'erior boiler house of the Calumet {