St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-01-05
The Grand Trunk Railway Trouble
STRIKE OF THE ENGINEERS.

SIhIhE Of LIE IA4NOAAN@A1AND'
PORTLAND, Me-, Dec. 90. All the en-
gineers on the Grand Trunk Railway,
| from Island Pond, west, 600 in number,
struck at o'clock tonight, and left
their engines wherever they happened
to be.
Extra switchmen are placed at the
switches between this city and Island
Pond, and an extra force of section men
preceded each train to-day to see that
the track had not been interfered with.
The drivers on this end have not yet
struck. A freight tain is showed up
mile from here and is deserted.
TORONTO, Ont, Dec. %. The engine
drivers on the Grand Trunk Railway
struck this evening. This, together
with severe snow storm now i'll pro-
gress, has brought passenger and freight
| traffic to standstill.
BIG AFFAIR AND A PRETTY SERIOUS
ONE.
The strike of train hands on the
Grand Trunk railroad in Canada is one
of great magnitude and seriousness, and
violent demonstrations have begun.
Business on the road is at a stand-still,
and the company will make no effort to
resume till the military authorities give
them full protection, though the Cen
trail Vermont company gave them a lit
tie help, yesterday, between st. Johns
and Montreal. The trains, both pas
senger and freight, were left by the
strikers at 9, Friday, just where they
happened to be, regardless of the stormy
weather, and passengers have been sub
.jected to such Inconvenience as to
threaten suits against the company,
while live stock must have suffered
terribly. The strikers have taken pos
session of the company's property wher-
ever they could, and they prevent any
who may be disposed TO yield to the
company by violence. They have made
desperate resolve that train traffic
shall not be resumed until their de-
mands are satisfied.
The heavy snOw-drifts of Friday night
still cover the track over the whole line
west of Toronto, the strikers being so
numerous and the intimidation so great
that no attempt has been made to move
an engine. Matters are almost as bad
between Toronto and Montreal. A train
which left Toronto, yesterday morning,
with Fridays through passengers, is
now lying at Coburg, the conductor
fearing to proceed, while at Belleville
matters are assuming most serious
aspect. Saturday night, % soldiers were
ordered to that station to preserve the
peace, while the line is being cleared, |
and to pilot in the Montreal passenger
train, which awaited orders seven miles |
east. While the track men cleared the |
line at one end of the yard, the strikers
would block it at the other by running |
snOw-plows and cars off the track. |
Much time was lost in this way, and the |
company decided to await daylight for |
further work. Early yesterday morn |
ing, locomotive foreman went out and |
pilOted the express train to Belleville. |
On its arrival, the strikers assembled, |
and several hours elapsed before the
driver could be got to mount the engine
to take the train west. At the station,
the platform was crowded, and the mil
itary were unable to prevent the strik-
ers from severely beating the engineer, |
they not being ordered to load or use
their bayOnets. One of the strikers, in |
attempting to wrest bayOnet from a |
volunteer, received severe wound in
the neck, and several other persons
were badly knocked about. Several |
pistols were fired, but nobody was dan
gerously wounded. The engine was
then returned to the shop. Four more
companies were ordered out, but the
men seemed unwilling to obey, and only
40 went under arms. Reinforcements
from the country arrived later, but the
company abandoned all hope of start
ing the train till they can get more help.
LATER.-No more violence is reported |
on the part of the striking engineers,
and Superintendent Wallis gives out
that all of them, save those who have
committed deeds of violence, will be re-
engaged at the old prices upon apph-
cation to him. The train from Toronto,
Tuesday, passed safely over the dan
gerous parts OF the line under guard
of soldiers. The strike was caused by
reducing the pay of engineers from
$3.50 to 1878 a day.
Of