The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-11-07

uuDDeu locally, JOuu II. Lewis, luLer-
national President of the United Mine
Workers of America, broke his ST
lence, and after innumerable cabinet
conferences with citizens committees,
committees from chamber Of com
merce, and similar aggregations, con-
descended to address himself to the
members of his own organization, the
striking miners, on Mitchell Day" in
the Victoria Theater at Shamokin,
Pennsylvania, in the heart Of the hard
coal region.
This was an unusual event and on
our arrival in town, as we mingled
with the crowds, who were assembling
by the hundreds from nearby towns,
we noted an air of expectancy, and
intense interest amongst the miners
of the prospect of hearing Lewis
speak.
MOT only the miners, but the towns
~ people were all agog, the advent
Of this labor leader being signaled by
a display of national flags on house
and store as requested by District
President Golden "In honor of Mr..
Lewis"
The interest of the striking miners
however, was not confined merely to
looking upon their president. Hav-
ing been on strike for eight weeks
their interest was chiefly concerned
with the conduct OF the strike and
with a possible settlement. As the
crowd of three thousand miners jam
med the theater, comment was heard
between groups of strikers from diff
ferent sections.
Down at Eagle HILL" says one,
"there was a big meeting the other
day in respect to strike relief" 1t
was stated that the orders for
food supplies, issued by the local
union officers, were being drawn on
one particular store, where prices
were twenty to thirty per cent higher
than in nearby stores. In answer to
protest by strikers and their wives
they were told, you take the order
drawn on the store which we give
you or you get no order at all" With
this, for the present, the miners had
to be satisfied.
"nOWN at Port Carbon" another
- interjected, they are checking
up on all the girls working in the silk
mills, and laying off the daughters of
striking miners" Yet another miner
spoke up. Il see they have thousands
of tons of bituminous coal laying by
the Reading tracks outside Of Potts
vile, and there's a shovel at work on
the slack pile over near Gilberton-"
These reports from different sec
tions and the comments by the min
ers, showed clearly that the miners
had immediate problems to be solved,
in connection with the strike, ehief
among these being the question of
relief for the miners, this question
again being intimately bound up with
the duration of the strike. Hence
the keen interest displayed by all
miners on the methods of giving out
relief, the firing of strikers daugh-
tiers from silk mills, and the substi-
tuition of soft for hard coal on local
railroads.
TINE possible duration of the strike,
4 whether it will last to December
first, or until the first Of the year,
aroused sharp discussion. Says one
miner, Il see in the last Journal that
locals in soft coal are passing reso-
lutions demanding a general strike. F"
And another. "If this goes on much
longer. we will have to call out the
maintenance men, and make the boss
es come to time"
These are the issues uppermost in
the minds of the miners as they as
semble for the meeting and promptly
at 10 a. m. to the strains of Sousa
march, Mr.. Lewis and his party"
appear on the fag-draped stage. "The
party" consisted of the mayor Of
Shamokin, representative of every
church in Shamokin, Mr.. Lewis, Sec
retary-Treasurer Kennedy, President