The New York herald., 1922-04-25
Union Mines Shut Tight.

The union miners of western Pennsyl-
vania, as everywheye else, are shut up
tight. The non-unfon mines-the great
source or coking coal-are 20 per cent
shut. Where 5000 cars of coal were
rolling off the sidings every day be-
.fore-A April /, only 1000 are to be seen
now. or 10000 non-union miners. 3o,-
900 are on strike.
Operators admit production has df.
minished by three-quarters. This is the
first time the correspondent of THE
New YORK HERALD has found them in
agreement about anything.
Although the United States Steel Cor
poration was suddenly and unexpectedly
walloped by the striking OF many of the
miners employed by Its subsidiary. the
II. c. F'rick Coal Company. 1t has suf-
fered less than some Of its rivals pro-
portionately. About half of the Frick
miners are working and the corporation
has succeeded in quickly extending Its
mining operations in West Virginia.
Its by-products works at Clarion, the
largest battery of coke ovens in the
world, Is now receiving $4,000 tons of
coal a day from the corporations own
sources. has 150,000 tons stored and has
10000 on barges coming down the
Monongahela River.
Operators Caught Unawares.
The operators OF the non-union fields,
caught unawares by a strike for which
they had made no preparation and car
ried Off their feet by it's sweep in the
first ten days. have now recovered their
breath and are about holding their own.
Here a group of miners quits and here
q group goes back to work. so that the
scales are nearly balanced just now.
Meanwhile the companies arc planning
an intensive campaign to get their men
back into the mines. The Steel Corpora
ton knows perfectly well that union la
Dor. beaten In 1919 in Its attempt to
organize the steel industry, has shifted
its attack and Is now trying to get in
by way of the coal cellar. United States
steel Is Just as determined to keep the
union out of the coal mines as 1t was
to keep II out OF the steel mills In 1919.
Wages and hours are subordinate in
the Western Pennsylvania coal strike.
The fight is union or non-union.
or the hundreds OF steel mills In this
region only three big ones have been
closed by shortage OF coal. These are
the Aringo works OF the Carnegie Steel
Company, near Steubensvile, Ohio; the
Shoenberger works OF the American
steel and Wire Company in Pittsburgh,
500 employees. and the Isabella Fur
mace No. OF the Carnegie Steel Com
pany at Etna. 1,400 employees.
Many Railroad Men Affected.
These are all Steel Corporation sub
sIdlaries. The largest mill that has been
prevented from reopening is the Farrell
works OF the Carnegie Steel Company
near Sharon. Its resumption, planned
for April IL on a rs per cent. basis
was cancelled, but since then one fur-
mace has been blown in. The largest
group OF workers thrown into idleness
is railroad men on coal carrying lines
Their number Is several thousand
Now for a little background which
will help the reader in comprehending
the fight. The coal OF this vicinity
comes from what is known as the Pitts
burrh yeIn--seven feet thick, easy to
mine, unmlxed with slate, high In gas
content, the perfect coking coal, coke
being tho carbon left after the gases
are driven Off by intense heat. Coke -
| the residue. II IL essential to the
manufacture OF steel, and the best coke
comes from Fayette county, which bor-
ders West Virginia southeast OF Pitts
burgh and is Just east Of the Mononga-
hela River.
Roughly speaking, all the coal fields
on the west bank OF the Mononganela
River are unionized and are on strike,
and all the coal fields along the east
bank were non-union and were not sup
posed TO strike Their doing what they
we're not supposed TO do accounts for
tho worry of the steel makers. The
Monongahela River Is canalized, with
locks and everything Tipples OF the
river mines are right az the rivers edge,
discharging coal into bargcs. Trans
portation Is the cheapest in the United
States and, years ago. because OF the