Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1891 — IT IS A BITTER FIGHT. [ARTICLE]

IT IS A BITTER FIGHT.

BOTH SIDES DETERMINED IN THE COAL FIELDS. Tlie Strike May Terminate Within a Week and It May Last Far Into the Spring— The Men Say Nothing Short of Starvation Will Induce a Surrender. The Situation Is Serious. From the outlook it is impossible to say what will come of the strike in the the. Brazil, Ind., coal Helds. It may terminate within a week, and it may last all winter and far into the spring. Neither the operators nor the miners have made a move toward settlement. Both are determined and silent. The miners say nothing short of starvation will drive them into the mines, and there is little prospect of such an emergency in the near future. On the oth< r hand the operators, w.th one or two exceptions, have signed an agreement to allow their p ants to stand idle until the spring rather than make the increase demanded by the men. A rathor sensational rumor has been circulated in Terre Haute and Brazil for some days, and if it should turn out to be true' \vi,l undoubtedly prevent an immediate settlement. It s that the Big Four road is using secret influences to prolong the strike. There is one feature in the striko which looks favorab.e to the men. It is the jealousy which exists between the sort coal operators and the block c al operators. They are for the present pulling together, but a separation may occur at any time. In this event tho men may oe victorious J. H. A cCleiland, general manager for tho Brazil Block Coal company, denied that such a jealousy existed, but some of tho soft coal men say it does Tlie miners deprecate lawlessness, and pulet prevails everywhere. Nothing like agitation ex'sts. Tho men are at homo with their families, waiting with a dogged persistence foe the operators 'o give in. Things a 1 out tlie mines looked gloomy to a recent visitor, but in most of tlie cottages there was an appearance of thrift, and tho squalor and dirt one expects to find in mining hamlets was want ng. Nothing of the anarchistic order was found. The one or two acts of violence w licli have occurred wero denounced. Tho miners loalizo that to win they must maintain tho respect of the public. In tho strike of two years ago,” said one, “we held out seven months, and not one of us was arrested fur lawlessness. We have not changed, but away back in the ’7os an attempt was made bv the opperators to run In a lot of foreigners and then there was a riot. The outsiders had to go Under simi ar circumstances vio'once might occur.” The operators all say no attempt will be made to import labor. They are willing to test the endurance of the miners.