AN ATTAINMENT OF THE LARGEST GENERAL WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA.
9. : A GENERAL NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF ORGANIZED LABOR IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA.
Our Shop Is Equipped
to Do Job Printing of
All Kinds. Nothing Too
Large or Too Small
We Cater Especially to
Local Union Printing.
Recognized and Endors-
ed by More Than Fifty
Local Unions and Cen-
tral Bodies Over Cam-
bria County and Ad-
jacent Mining Areas.
Union Press, Established May, 1935, Patton Courier, Established Qct., 1893,
pe CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AREA. THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1939
| | HARMONY LOOKED FOR IN LABOR BY NATIONAL BODY
American Womanhood INLR B BELIEV ES
728 South Tifth ‘ve,
PATTON. PA,
VOL. 46. NO. 16.
SUBSCRIPTION, $2.00 PER YEAR
: SCALE AGREEMENT TO BRING DISCUSSION
it
:
MINE WORKERS
SAID SEEKING
WAGE INCREASE
Twenty Per Cent Raise, Shorter
Hours, and Guaranteed Wage
With Vacation.
A flat 20 per cent wage increase,
shorter hours and a guaranteed annu-
al wage with vacations wil be the Un-
ited Mine Workers demands to be
written into the new contract with the
Appalachian Coal Association, it was,
indicated at Pittsburgh over the week
end.
Biannual wage conferences with op-
erators of the Appalachian group are
scheduled in New York on March 14th
in advance of the expiration of con-
tracts April 1st. One Pittsburgh paper,
announcing purported demands of the
United Mine Workers, said operators
were expected to oppose the demands
which are virtually the same as made
two years ago when a nation wide
walk out was averted by granting a
$6.00-a-day base rate and the seven-
hour day, 35 hour week.
The U. M. W. of A. is under con-
vention mandate to bring about chang-
es in district and local agreements, es-
tablish the six hour day and 30 hour
week, abolish wage differentials be-
tween northern and southern produc-
ing fields, increase wages and reduce
the problem of mechanization.
James Mark, president of District 2,
explained that no policy has ben ad-
opted by the national scale committee
as yet. He added that the committee
wil meet later in the month in Wash-
ington.
CIO OPENS FIGHT
FOR NEEDED WPA
APPROPRIATIONS
Efforts Are Redoubled to Win
Speedy Passage of A Billion
Dollar Fund for Nation.
week to redouble its fight to win spee-
dy passage of a billion dollar WPA de-
ficiency appropriation and prevent the
| closing of all WPA projects through-
out the nation by February 7th. It |
called on its unions to write and wire |
members of Congress to show labor's |
stand.
have informed the CIO that they are
taking action to back the CIO demand.
made by President John L. Lewis two
weeks ago.
President Powers Hapgood of the
United Shoe Workers, announced that
all senators and repfesentatives have
received communications from his un
ion urging the billion dollar appropria-
tion. The United Rubber Workers has
adopted a similar program, and the
National Maritime Union is appealing
to all east coast seamen to make
known their demands.
All CIO affiliates in New Jersey
and Alabama have been asked to notify
their Congressional delegations of the
CIO stand on the relief issue. In ad-
dition, Industrial Union Councils in
scartered sections of the nation are
taking similar action.
President Roosevelt's budget mes-
| sage, it is noted, contained a request
for $875,000,000 for WPA. CIO leaders
Washington.—The CIO prepared this |
International unions and inaustrial |
union councils in increasing numbers |
BR-R-R, IT’S COLD
|
|
|
A sudden midwest cold wave
didn’t catch this newsboy unpre-
pared. He foiled the wintry blasts
with a makeshift stove and a couple
of gunny sacks. He also added a
couple of sweaters to his ensemble.
AID SOUGHT FOR
JOBLESS MINERS
IN PENNA. AREAS
Federal and State Relief Agen- |
GRANGE SPEAKER
SAYS FARMER IS
EXPLOIT VICTIM
| Blames Machinery Makers; De-
| centralization of Industry So- |
|
|
lution of Unreasonable Costs. |
|
Condemning unfair practices of “big |
business” in absorbing small industries |
| and taking advantage of the farmers |
by raising prices on farm machinery,
| John A. Smith, of Dickenson, former
| member of the state legislature from
Cumberland County, and past master
of the Cumberland County Pomona
{ Grange, Saturday addressed the mem-
| bers of the Cambria County Pomona |
| Grange at its meeting in Munster hall |
| near Munster. The session was largely
| attended and was attended wih an in-
teresting program.
i The speaker cited the fact that in
| recent years many small concerns have
supplying farmers with machinery that
! sprung up and are manufacturing and
| meets their needs at reasonable prices.
| “Twenty-five or 60 years ago,” he said,
{ “none of these concerns could have
| lived in the ruthless age of competi-
| tion. All would have been crowded to
| the wall by the more efficient methods
| of mass production, but today they are
succeeding because big business has
not been honest with the people and |
with itself.
| “Big business has watered stock and
| bought out competing firms until it is
necessary to make a prcfit three or
| four times as great as its honest in-
vestment. When big business says it
| must have a great profit because of
cies Study New Proposal £0 | high wages it merely hides behind a |
Solve Unemployment, | smoke screen. Decentralization of in- |
———————— point out, however, that a ful billion
] is needed if further curtailment of the
10 MILLION TON WPA activities is to be forestalled. | dustry is proving that small business
{ In an open letter to Congress, Ralph Harrisburg. — Federal and state | can make a profit and pay good wag-
|
| Hetzel, Jr., CIO Unemployment direc- | : : | 11i ig business bec |
i i 3 JT,, =” | work relief agencies today studied a ©S by underselling big business ecause |
COAL CONTRACT tor, warned that a suggested appropri- | new proposal 7 SE I | these decentralized plants make a pro- |
ation of only half a billion dollars | in Pennsylvania coal fields. | tit only upon the honest investment of |
\ " would “create indescribable misery | Public Utility Commissioner Don-) aR individual or two who have not
among millions of honest, decent, Am- | «ld M. Livingston urged that idle an- learned the tricks and crimes of high
a erican citizens, who want work, but thracite and bituminous miners could | fiRance.” |
| 40 3 : |
~ y cannot get it. . In = ; Under his topic of “Farm Finances |
Suprem 't Gets Cas n= 2 ra i be employed sucessfully in a coordin- | 1 A i
upreme Court Gets Case I Support for the CIO position on the | J40 4 statewide program of flood con- | and Taxes,” the former legislator urg- |
volving Barnes & Tucker and | wpa was seen this week in a front | trol, water supply and reforestration | €d 1aws that will erable development |
Bird Coal Company. | of smal industries by honest capitali-
| projects. i : p
He pointed out that all three are | zation. He urged decentralization in |
the milk industry as well as in other |
page editorial appearing in the Phila-
————a delphia Record, pro-New Deal paper.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court at It said: develo ; |
i i Te ; pments to a type to require ex- | ' a i
Philadelphia last week had under ad- So far this government has played cavation work, and i he i Thad | industry and took issue with the]
visemen: a suit by a mining corpora- | a cruel game of expanding and con- “a lot of this work could be started al. | Grange theory that transfer of the
| a |
LABOR GROUPS
WILL REUNITE
Annual Report to the President
|
| Predicts That Peace Will Come
| Within the Year.
|
[
The National Labor Relations Board
said Monday it was “gratified to note
. . . signs that before another year has
| passed disunity in the American labor
| movement may be a thing of the past.”
| In its annual report to President
¢ | Roosevelt and Congress the board also
replied to general charges against it,
particularly complaints that it has fa-
vored the Congress of Industrial Or-
ganizations against the American Fed-
eration of Labor and other questions
figuring in the impending battle over
Wagner Act amendments.
The issue of AFL-CIO rivalry for
selection as a bargaining unit came be-
fore it in 41 cases during the fiscal
year ended last June 30th. The NLRB
said that it adopted the AFL conten-
tion in 21 cases, the CIO proposal in
16, and that comtentions of both groups
were adopted in part in the other four
cases.
The board conducted 1,512 elections
between July 1, 1937, and June 30,
1238. The CIO was on the ballot in
816 elections, in which it polled 175,-
838 votes. It was victorious in 553 of
the tests, or 67.8 per cent of the num-
ber. in which it participated. The AFL
polled 67,151 in the 604 elections in
| which its unions took part. Federation
| affiliates won 263 of the elections, or
| 435 per cent ,the board said.
In the 312 elections, involving ap-
NEW YORK A stoiie represent | proximately 80,000 workers in which
ing RN omy Wer the CIO and AFL opposed each other,
3 2G 15n5 Cocere foe ths Tacs of | the CIO won 219 of the polls, and the
y (zaetano Cecere for ihe fac: , | AFL won 86. One resulted in a tie vote
the Home Furnishings Building al | and neither labor union received a
the New York World’s Fair 1939. | majority in six of the contests.
_ - | “The necessity for deciding such is-
SU PREME COURT sues as just outlined between unions
: ! | affiliated with the AFL and Unions
! affiliated with the CIO has always
RAID? TATE | been distasteful to the board, especially
: | since their decision and the decision
| of other issues which have arisen be-
WORKM EN'S ACT | cause of the split has absorbed a dis-
| proportionate part of the board's time
| and energies,” the report said. “How-
. y . | ever ,the board has no alternative un-
Surprise Move Made to Hear Ar- | ger the statute except to decide these
gument on Compensation Law | issues when presented.
validity. “Despite the profound cleaveage in
the labor movement, organized labor
Earle : bas still been able to derive enormous
Harrisburg.—Validity of the
TR RR Ss snr
tion involving the alleged theft of a'tracting WPA as if it were an accor- | most immediately through WPA {milk control and ‘sanitation work to | : ge : = 'b Ne a as
g g ro- a re S “]li- benefits as a result of the grea ar-
ten million ‘en coal gontract den. | jects in a Ti in the Derane. | the Department of Agriculture, will | Acatinisngtion S Duy pea a antees of economic Sri ph
The Barnes and Tucker Company, “No one should be dropped from ment of Forests and Waters Fish and | Solve the milk problems. { perahiming amendments 3
operators of bituminous mines in Bar-
nesboro sought an accounting from
the estate and widow of the son of
the founder of the firm.
Thomes Barnes, the founder, died on
January 11, 1911, and in his will ap-
pointed his only son, John Barnes, his
sole executor and trustee of his es-
tate, directing that the son should take
his place as president of the corpora-
tion and ccntinue to conduct the bus-
iness in the interest of himself and
his four sisters, it was testified.
The will also directed that the son
should become president of the Bar-
nesboro Heat, Light and Power Com-
pany.
At the time of the elder Barnes’
death it was contended, he held a con-
tract with the Public Service Electric
Company of Newark, N. J., for the de-
livery of 10,000,000 tons of coal at the
rate of one million tons a year at $2.85 | =
a ton.
It was aleged that subsequently the
son organized the Bird Coal Company, |
and after a strike had relieved the |
| WPA until there is a place for him in
private employment. But hundreds of |
| thousands have been thrown off WPA | Board.”
| a sif they were so many bags of salt, |
thereby scaring the living daylights
not only out of all WPA workers, but
out of three times as many marginal
workers who live in constant fear that
they, too, will be jobless.
“A job for everyone is economically
sound.
“It can be accomplished without in-
creasing the national debt. When we
examine the proposition we find it is
not such a staggering task as might ap-
pear at first glance. At most it would
add $3,000,000,000 a year to the pres-
ent relief expenditure. This is based
on putting 2,000,000 additional heads of
families to work at $750 a year, and |
4,000,000 supplementary workers at
half that amount par year.”
MINE OFFICERS OF
DISTRICT 10 FORM A
NEW SAFETY GROUP |
Barnes and Tucker Company of the | Cal
liability to deliver coal to the Newark |
Mine executives of Bituminous Dis-
utility concern, John Barnes continued | trict No. 10 met at Ebensburg Friday |
with the deliveries through the Bird |
Coal Company.
The purported irregularity was dis-
covered after John Barnes’ death in|
1930.
The original company seeks to re- |
cover an estimated $900.000 with in- |
terest and an additional 15 per cent. |
commission on several million tons of |
coal allegedly sold by the son’s com- |
pany over a period of nearly 4 years. |
Defendants in the suit are the Bird |
Company, William C. Fownes, of]
Pitssburgh, a brother in law of John
Barnes; the Girard Trust Company,
executors and trustees under his will,
and Frederick C. Shaffer, administra-
tor of the estate of Amy F .B. Shaffer, /
widow of John Barnes, who remarried
after his death. |
|
BLANDBURG MINER |
y
FALLS DEAD IN PIT
Edward Miller, 63, of Blandburg, fell |
dead on Monday morning while work-
ing in the Harbison and Walker Re-
fractories Mine at Blandburg. Mr.
Miller was digging and loading clay |
in the mine when he suffered a heart
attack and died before he could be - |
removed to the opening of the mine. During the recent New England hur- | will be held on Friday, January 13th.| FOR SALE—Eight tube Majestic ra- | three consecutive Monday evenings, $25 a
Mr. Miller leaves his widow, Mrs. Le- | ricane disaster, telegraph messages | at the Arlington hotel in Barnesboro. | dio in good condition; closing out at| January 16, 23 and 30. Chicken and have
ila (Weakland) Miller,
) daughters,
two brothers and two sis 5
evening to effect a new organization
to promote safety in the mines and cut
to a minimum the number of acci- |
dents. It is planned to form a perma- |
nent organization and hold quarterly |
meetings for a closer cooperation be- |
tween mine executives and mine in- |
spectors. |
Present at the meeting were Al
Hunt, general manager of the Penn- |
sylvania Coal and Coke Corporation;
Alex Jack, general superintendent of
the same concern; L. F. Crouse, gener- |
al manager, and W. R. Chick, general |
superintendent of the Monroe Coal |
Company; James Morgan controller,
and James Campbell, superintendent
of the C. A. Hughes Company; W. B.
Hughes, general manager of the '
Game Commissions, General State
Authority and the State Planning
“These projects,” he asserted, “would
provide useful work for many years to
come, of a type which could be per-
formed readily by men used to mining
and would go far towards solving the
unemployment problem.”
He observed that increased employ-
ment in the coal regions would also |
relieve unemployment in manufactur-
ing cities.
BARNESBORO IS
FORTUNATE IN A
MINE REOPENING
Barnes & Tucker No. 12 Mine
Been Closed for Past Nine
Months.
The future of the coal industry in
the Barnesboro vicinity took on a
brighter aspect last week with the
announcement of the management of
the Barnes and Tucker Coal Mining
Company that No. 12 mine at Barnes-
boro has been reopened after a shut-
down of nine months.
Along with this good news to Bar-
nesboro workers came the anounce-
ment that the company has sufficient
orders for the mine to operate for a
number of months.
While only 50 men have been called
back by the company at the present
time, additional workers will be added
to the pay roll in the future.
At one time, when the coal business
was at its height, the No. 12 mine | Program of cattle testing in Cambria | proposed minimum prices and market-
“It is merely chasing the scratching
dog from under the table to a place
{ under the stove,” Mr. Smith said. “It
is not getting rid of the fleas. What is
necessary, and what always has been
necessary in the milk industry is to
| “delouse the dog.” Adequate police
| power and a will to prosecute the of-
| fenders flagrantly abusing the author-
ity alone will give the farmer a fair
return on his cost of production and |
on his investment.
The speaker also discussed farm tax-
es and qouted statistics te show that
taxes in Pennsylvania farm lands are
higher per acre than in Maryland,
Delaware, Virginia, or West Virginia. |
At the morning session on Saturday
R. M. Niebauer, master of the grange,
appointed two committees for 1939, as |
|
| follows: |
| Legislative: E. J. Farabaugh, Elmer |
| Rowland, Charles Holtz, Frank Ropp,
| and M. L. Miller. |
Home Economics: Charlotte Davis, |
| Mrs. George Leiden, Louise Westrick, |
| Mrs. M. H. Mohler and Marian Garret. |
| Preceding the general meeting in|
| the afternoon there were conferences |
| of subordinate grange masters and lec- |
| turers, and at 1:30 o'clock there were |
| memorial services for Frank Cunning-
{ ham, late of East Caroll township and |
the Cross Roads Grange, and Mr. |
Swinter of the Flinton Grange. C. J. |
Bearer of the Cross Roads Grange, eu- |
logized Mr. Cunningham while the |
by Mrs. Nellie |
| Swinter eulogy was
| Stratton of the Flinton Grange.
The grangers adopted resolutions ur- |
ging the Bureau of Animal Industry to
| exercise greater care in selecting vet- |
erinarians to make tubercular tests of
cattle. Another resolution urgently re-
[ quested the commissioners of Cambria
County to lend financial aid to the
loaded daily 7 steel cars or 3,500 tons | County during the triennial tests re-
of coal and employed 650 men. All
quired by the Bureau of Animal In-
Johnstown Coal Company; David Da- | modern equipment is installed in the | dustry. The tests are scheduled this
mine, and the coal loading device at!year. A third resolution adopted ask-
vidson, general superintendent of the
Springfield Coal Company, and W. H. |
filer, inspector for District No. 10. i
District 10 of the Joseph Holmes |
Safety Council will meet on Friday of |
this week in Ebensburg. Fred Vinton |
of Indiana, general superintendent of
the Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal
Company, will be the speaker. Ira A. |
Bradley of Cresson will preside. |
|
from New. York to Boston were sent |
over a cable route via London, {
the tipple is said to be up to date in
Richard | local taxes within two years of the el-|
every respect.
The No. 12 mine is one of the oldest
in the Barnesboro section.
Todhunter, Jr., has been named super- | ection at which they vote.
intendent of the mine and Michael Me-
hal has been named mine foreman.
A special dance and spaghetti supper
Dancing from 8:30 to 12. Everybody |
welcome, y
| the entertainment and dinner provided
— a | by the Munster Grange.
DANCE AND SPAGHETTI EVENT. | —
J
ed for amendment to the state consHe |
tution requiring that any person desir-
ing to vote must have paid county and
Another
resolution expressed appreciation fori
RADIO BARGAIN.
$5.00. Easly Furniture Co., Spangler,’
Pa. 4t,
| the legislature is in session.
| by the James administraion.
mens Compensation law will be argued | ied in the National Labor Relations
| on Friday of this week before the | Act.
State Supreme Court, which in a “A unified labor movement would
surprise move, took original jurisdic- | be In even a stronger position to enjoy
tion in a test suit pending here more |'the rights protected by the statute, and
than a year. the board is therefore gratified to
As opposinig counsel outlined argu-| note that at the time this report is
ments for presentation to the tribunal | being prepared there are signs that
in Philadelphia, and many folks won- | before another year has passed disun-
{ der why the supreme court had not ['ity may be a thing of the past.”
| stepped into the picture long ago, in-|
The Board said there was a tendency
stead of now. If the supreme court had | ©f unions to resort to the machinery
| not assumed original jurisdiction, the of the act and the guaranty of rights
case filed over a year ago would have ' contained in it instead of using its
ambled through the lower courts and | €conomic weapon in the form of a
might not have reached the supreme Strike.
tribunal for a year or two. The pres-| ‘Industrial unrest, particularly
ent move would indicate that the court | Where the right to organize is an is-
will reach a decision during the next | Sue, finds two main outlets—strikes
month or two, and presumably while and appeal to the Board,” the report
| continued. “The former is drastically
It was regarded as significant in affected by such cyclial fluctuations
some quarters that the supreme court ' aS business recessions or progression;
waited until after the November 8th | the latter scarcely so. While the num-
election—at which Republicans swept | ber of cases before the board has a
state wide offices, regained control of | Seasonal pattern which is so similar to
the house of representatives and dress- | that of strikes, it is, nevertheless, seta-
ed down the overwhelming Democrat- | dier. As an established, legally sanc-
ic majority in the senate—and until | tioned agency, it provides an outlet
after the incoming Governor Arthur | for industrial protests which might
H. James had ample opportunity to otherfise result in strikes: and a larg-
formulate policies of his regime be- | € proportion of such protests are be-
fore taking over the Workmen's Com- | In€ taken before the board rather
pensation testsuit. than expressed in the form of strikes.”
Some observers took the view that | er——
objections of the Supreme court to the MAN LOSES LIFE IN
i gs o a - |
revised statute would be an accurate | MINE AT BENSCREEK
criterion on the changes contemplated |
Paul Dunn, 33, of Lilly, was crush-
rE |
3 ed to death on Saturday morning when
MINIMUM COAL | he was caught under a fall of rock in
rRICES BACKED | the Benscreek mine of the C. A. Hu-
| ghes Coal Company. After his body
Washington—The Bituminous Coal | was extricated, it was found that his
Commission announced last week ap-| death was due to a crushed skull, a
proval for coordination purposes” of | broken back and internal injuries.
Dunn was employed as a timberman
ing rules for five coal fields. {in the mine and was engaged in set-
District producers’ boards will use | ting timbers when one broke and a
the figures in coordinating rates for | protion of the roof fell, pinning him
shipment to consuming areas. | under it. He is survived by his widow
The fields for which coordination and a child.
prices were approved are Western | —_—
Pennsylvania, Northern West Virginia, | Admitting he had embez
Ohio, Michigan and in Van Buren, | of the funds of Portage I.
McMinn and Warren Counties, Tenn. | M. W. of A., Vallie Yingling
— en financial secretary of the
The Loretto Road Committee of St.| was sentenced by Jud
Michael’s Church, Loretto, Pa., are Ebensburg on Monday to be
holding a series of Cinch parties and probation for two ve
Five Hundred. Parties will be held on and to mak
led $266.80
1 498, U.
noodles will be served. The public is into the 1
invited. trict No
A ,