, 1866-04-16

strike.
The residents up town In New York, for
two or three days past, have been subjected
to great Inconvenience on account Of the
general strike among the car drivers. The
fate Of payment received Is but two dollars
per day, the hours OF labor varying from
twelve to seventeen. The Herald Of Thurs.
day last sasa: =. a..
The position Of driver, in itself, is rcspon.
tihle and, it Is hardly necessary to say, an
aIduous one. Mopotnnous In the extreme,
excuse these men from dug. Throughout
the winter which has Just passed, there has
been the hardest weather Known IN
New York for some years, and on
the cold nights In. January, q uum-
Der Of these men were dangerously
i!osthitten.. Taking al these things INTO coi.
provisions and house rent, the sum OF two
dollars day Is not a fair equivalent for more
than day'awo1k, and 60 the drivers on the
Third and Sixth avenue lines struck yester-
day. The strike has been contemplated by
made without q fair representation of the
matter and their determination to the COM
panIes for which they worked. In the case Of
The Third avenue, as well as the Sixth, nine
days were given the directors to come to M
arrangement. The time expired yesterday
with the result stated. There are over fifteen
hundred car drivers ln the city, most Of them
difficult thing to fill their places should
they all strike, as they assuredly will. By tho
provisions Of the lnw, licenses for drivers will
be granted to none other than citizens of the
United States who are qualified to drive cars
Of Of that des,sEEiption d,E,', o and ,,as. as tho
but: few who can procure such licenses:
The strike first took place on the Third
avenue line, the men ticiug up at nine a. H.,
and refusing to work under thrce dollars per
day. Subsequently they staied their willing
ness to take, those on the long trips to uar-
those up to the depot, two dollars and fifty
cents. There arc over ono hundred and
thirty cars on this line, and about one Hun
dred and fifty drivers regularly employed.
The Average time Of work Is dfteen hours,
and the present pay Is but two dollars for the
short and two dollars and twenty CENTS for
the long trips. At about two O'Clock several
of the cars resumed With new drivers, each
Of whom was protected by two policemen on
the front platform. During the dny the men
round the depot talked oTer the matter, as
did the officers Of the line. The latter decided
to otter twenty y-fye cents extra 10 each ctass
of drivers until the 1st prorlmo, when they
promised to see Wha. further could be done.
Some few of the men accepted these terms,
and resumed work, but large number still
held out, and stated their determination of
doing 70 till their terms we're 8cceded to- A
feeling of THE strongest indignation WAS held
against thoee who had accepted the terms
mentioned, and In several cases the drivers
were severely beaten.
All the drivers On the Sixth avenue struck,
and the scene at the Forty third street depot,
as each car came In aud wosl left without q
driver, was one Of considerable excitement.
Alr. Joseph Bidgood, General Superintendent,
the "time spottcr," were Obliged to take the
rcins, and th.s keep some Of the cars run
Ming A driver named Hard3ck, on car Is. OF
the Canal street branch Of this line, drove his
car until noon. On going to- his dinner he
WAS attacked In FoHy.seventh street by
the company, and severely beaten. There.
upon be concluded to desIst from work,
Each car that ran on this Inc In the alter
noon had policemen on both platforms To pro-
tect the driver
Around the depot at Forty. third street q
every corner excited groups Of drivers aud
their friends discussed the merits Of the
strike. According TO them the case stands
thus They receive two dollars q day for
working from fourteen to sixteen hours. II
they happen to be detained By fire, OF any
are unable to run their full complement Of
seven trips day, the sum Of t1enty-eieht
cents Is deducted. for each trip they lose.
Sunday, they ray, is the busiest day on tbs
majority of the lines, and the time for making
the seven trips Is often prolonged TO seventeen
hours. The reason of such q long time. being
spent in making those trps' Is because cach
car has to s'lay over'' for some houss each
day, in order to bring them all in towards
evening, and that the company may accom-.
modate the rush Of passengers which takes
place At6 O'Clock p. N. The car driven
Of New York form . regular chartered rs.
socfation, which went into existence ir
1859. On the eth Of March last = bill WIS iatro.
dnced before the Legislature At Albany, by
C. A. jenkins, for the relief OF the car drivers
by shortening their hours OF labor To ter
hours day, and 10 grant them extra pay fos
any time beyond that period.
|. The Legislature having taken no action On
this bill. the drivers concluded to take the
matter into their own hands, by striking FOX
an increase Of fifty cents per day for the eK-
ira time they had 10 work. The officers oi
the Car Drivers Association assert that the
strike yesterday Was not the, result Of any
action Of the society a. body. Mr. Butler,
the President OF this line, WAS al the depot
until Late hour, attending 10 the duties .oi
the superintendent and other officers, who
were Unexpectedly called upon to supply the
place OF some OF the drivers. On this line
there are forty-si1 day cars and four night
CATE running 70 Vcsey street md afleeu to
Cnnal street.