The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-10-04
WORLD OUTPUT
OF FLUORSPAR
IS INVOLVED

Springfield, Ill, Oct. 4.--That IS per
cent Of the worlds supply Of fuorspar,i
| used in the manufacture of steel as a
fiux to separate impurities from the
product, is involved in the contest be-
| tween union miners and employers at
Rosiclare. ILL.,, has been revealed by
Governor Dunne's investigation of the
troubles in that out-of-the-way
village.
He has learned that there are two
mines there, the larger owned by the
Rosiclare Lead & Fluorspar Mining
Co.. which corporation Is controlled
by the John r. Mclean estate. and the
| other owned by the Fairview Fluor-
spar Mining Co. The product of these
workings goes to steel mills in all
parts of the country and also is used
| in the manufacture Of glazed tile,
enamels. opalescent glass and hydro
| fluoric acid.
Rosiclare is in Hardin county at the
very southern tip of the state. Until
last Nav it was a sober, peaceful min
ing village but within the last five
months II has been torn bv a bitter
strife which has brought violence and
| blood shed
Starting first in the secret organi-
| union, the trouble grew through the
summer until union strikers. nom
union miners citizens, merchants. off,
cials and even residents Of other parts
OF Hardin county were drawn into it.
When 1t became known last May
that union organizers were working
among the spar miners, the two mining
| companies posted notices that they
would not employ men belonging to
union. Twenty men Immediately lost
their positions. Others began joining
the organization until $50 of the 500
miners employed at the two mines
quit work.
There followed midnight stoning OF
houses and a plentiful use of fire
arms. The mining companies asked
Sheriff L. II. McGinnis OF Hardin
county to swear in extra deputies to
preserve peace? He did so. and soon
after there was night fight in the
streets OF Rosiclare in which one
deputy sheriff and three men. said to
be non-union miners, were wounded.
Violence again broke out on the night
of July 81, when there was a fusilade
of shots. When the smoke had clear
ed, two non-union miners and one
union man were found in the streets
wounded.
Twice Governor Dunno has sent
Assistant Adjutant General Shand and
James +. Morris, secretary of the state
| mining board. to Rosiclare to ascer-
tain for him the true conditions. After
each investigation these men reported
that all was quiet. but each time the
trouble broke out anew within a few
weeks after their departure. -
Statements Of the union men and of
the mine officials are sharply contra
dictory. The mine officials declare
union men fired on the homes Of nom
union workers and that the latter were
tntimidated. threatened and finally
some Of them beaten and their property
| damaged by the union men. They
argue that the working conditions at
the mines are of the best, that the
men are paid from $1.75 day, given
| to old men and boys who work on
top to as high as $40 a day to the
miners beneath the ground; that
| conditions at the mines are sanitary
as evidenced by rest rooms and shower
baths; that for a quarter of a century
prior to the coming Of the union
organizers the miners were contented,
peaceful and prosperous, and they
point to forty new homes built by
| miners with money earned by digging
| fluorspar.
On the other hands union officials
| declare that because the men sought to
| exercise the right of forming q union,
| they were summarily dismissed from
| the employment to which they had
| been faithful for many years; that
| they were driven from their homes
and from Rosiclare by armed guards
employed by the mine companies; that
men, women and children were hound
ed from town; that the mayor and two
| trustees OF the village were forced to
resign because they attempted to pro-
test the miners, and that they have
| been denied the right of assemblage
and free speech.
Between these two factions are the
| business men and other citizens OF the
| town who do not work in the mines.
1t is said most Of the business men
stand with the mining companies.
A few days ago a committee con-
| sisting Of the county Judge, the sheriff,
the banker and the druggist Of the
| village. called on Governor Dunno and
| laid before him what they declare is
| a statement of the facts. On their
| heels came the president OF the Illi-
nois Federation of Labor and an
| organizer for the United Mine Work.
ers. They too placed before the gov
| ernor what they contend to be the
| facts. Each side backed up it's
statements with many affidavits and
other documentary evidence.
The statements brought to notice
the nature Of the mines and some-
thing Of the history of the village OF
Rosiclare.
In 1889 a man named Anderson was
digging a well in the country near
what is now Rosiclare. He struck a
peculiar mineral together with a
quantity Of lead ore. Later lead
mines were opened there. The un-
| known mineral was thrown away as
waste. In the early sos a chemist
| discovered that this waste was huor :
spar and valuable. The mines soon
became fiuorspar mines instead of lead
mines. and since then have been
| steadily developing.
| Mining is the only industry of Rosi-s
clare. The town has a population of
about 1,100. Hardin county has no
| railroads. It's population is only about
5000. Its county seat, Elizabetbtown.
has only 700 inhabitants. Practically
! everyone in Rosiclare either works at
the mines or is directly dependent up
on them.
The two mines produce something
more than 100000 tons OF fuorspar a
year. 1t is worth from SIS to SIS a
ton, depending upon its quality and
the market demand.
The miners for the most part are
men reared on nearby farms or young
men who have grown up in Rosiclare.
There are no foreigners in the conn
munity.
Everyone in Rosiclare has at some
time in his life worked in the mines
or does so now. The county Judge is
a top boss at one of the mines The