New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-07-18
WILL THERE BE A sTRIKEf
r,,r rE1,EeRApHERs AND THE COMPANIES

THE QUESTION TO BE DECIDED io'D"
There was no change yesterday in tne poS.. sr.
lion of. the complaining telegraph ppm,;tted
IA tha comnanies. to which they s"on's
,,at;t;on ON Monday for higher waee' a.. 49,
- horrs of work. It is thought "ia' ~ A.,
~.t;.;sr will he considered to-day aV su'
po -s: of the Western Union HAeo"
49, Committee. What action the opo,", -
.v u.1 80 in case no answer is returheu 10
.s;, VIZ II Is considered probable, now,
over that in the event OF q refusai soneia.
s.rte will be ordered at once. Inc oen''.,Is ',S
Ss ,ha onerators are declared by the oinoi'is
to be preposterous.
,o,r Mt srEps TO BE TAKEN TO-DAY.
ACTION ny THE WESTERN UNION EKtoolis o
MrrrRE LrKELY-wHAT THE MEN WALL w.
tn. main anxiety is naturally felt regarding 'ne
,o,;on Of the western Union Company as 'ne niinoi
,ompanies are comparatively insignincans iV~.u.o
80 the sItuation The most important Oh 'no ,a''''
!. the Baltimore and Ohio Company. At Tue NO"
WI Offices of that company the Iorce VI
..ors and linemen numbers less than sixty per
sons Manager F. H. May. of the American RAPID
Comnanv. has forwarded the demands OF the broth-
o,hood fo the Boston Office, to be passed upon oy
tba directors. The president Of the company, J W.
ronverss ia now at the West The Rapid employs
onlv 600 operators, half Of whom are Morse 'eie-
graphers and the rest operators on the rapid au.o
matte system. The linemen employed NUMBER on,y
, s;xty-fye. The presentation OF demands 10 'no
postal Telegraph Company is regarded as only
form. This company has in its service
onlv between thirty and forty operators and is 10
ins no public business over its line from New YORK
N Chicago. The Bankers and Merchants leie-
unAt nd
eraph Company Is commercial organization a"o
amnIoys only 100 operators and llnemen' Ihey
receive pay about equal to the advance asked lot
the men in the service of the other companies ana
the f,rotherhood seeks no advance for them.
WESTERN UNION OFFICIALS RETIcENT.
III. western Union Company, with it's $4,000
onerators and hundreds of lnemen, Is the
srrroration on which preeminently the disaster of
strike would fall and the cripplng of its service
vould work by far the greatest damage to business
interests. The companys executive officers were
"a reticent Yesterday as they have been throughout
the rsceut agitation No official utterance could be
obtained to Justify an opinion as to the probable
eourse which the company may take to averta
strike 1t was believed that the situation would De
thoroughly discussed to-day at the regulsr meeting
of the Executive Committee OF the western
IJuiop. but even that belief was not founded upon
ANYTHING but sem-official surmises Many OF the
members of the committee are out OF town. but
those who could be reached by wire yesterday were
sent for it is understood to attend the meeting II
possible. 1t is believed that quorum of the com
mittee certainly will be present. Jay Gould was
rportcd by press dispatch to be on his way in his
new steam yacht 10 Mount Desert it was learaed'
however, that Mr.. Gould would return to New-forx
and attend the meeting to-day.
WILL THE OPERATORS sTRIKEf
<1ea Txa fiva
of the Telegraphers Brotherhood in case an answer
is not returned to it to-day by the Western Union
could not be ascertained. The result OF close in-
ourics furnishes foundation for belief that strike
. or general resignation" of operators will follow
within twenty-four hours 1t is certain that among
The operators in genera; to-day's meeting OF the
Western Union committee is regarded as likely to
prscipitate a crisis, AMI their belief is that
the attitude of the company will determine imme-
diately the question whether negotiations can be
conducted with good chances of settlement OF the
extreme measure of strike be rendered necessary.
At the same time il is declared that the Brother
hood is in the hands of it's Executive Board abso-
lutely and if the latter fit to POSTPONE the last
resort, no immediate trouble will occur. So far
ss person outside of the secret organiza-
ton can Judge the committee Is backed
by q compact support. Most OF the
operators talked with confident in their expires
sion that orders for strike be carried cut at
any time affecting telegraph employees from the
extreme East TO the Pacific slope.
WHAT OFFICERS OF VARIOUS COMPANIES SAY.
F.H May, the manager of the American Rapid
Telegraph Company, said yesterday: L was not
present when the committee ofthe operators visited
our ofice and left their demands. sentthem op TO
Boston last night. have authority to act
In the matter but must await instructions from the
directors When they will meet do not know;
have heard nothing at all from the Boston Office
Oar president is now at the West, but he has been
given notice of the situation. / do not know
whether he will return on account of it not" Mr..
l May added that he regarded the demands of the
teegraphers as immoderatc, but he did not think
there would be strike immediately if at to-day's
meeting Of the Western Union Company Executive
Committee answer given.
Henri Cummns of the Postal Telegraph Com
pany said that his company had received the gen.
sral petition. Its operators were mostly engaged on
special contract and some of them had been given
higher positions than they had held with the West
/ ern Union because there had been more good men
capable of filing the places than the latter COM
pany had wanted He thought that only few OF
/ the men members of the Brotherhood.
An official of the Bankers and Merchants
Company stated that the officer of the
Brotherhood who had investigated the po-
! sisions of their had reported that
no ground for dissatisfaction existed. The demands
of the Brotherhood were exorbitant. and was the
lease with most such demands. would benefit many
inferior operators whose abilities did not warrant
THE universal increase asked
AT the main Office in this city of the Baltimore
md Ohio Telegraph Company the head operator
laid that he had received no instructions from the
general Office in Baltimore, and he had vainly tried
o get some information as to the situation from the
Operator there.
TALKS WITH WESTERN UNION MEN.
| Az was natural, the subordinate officers OF the
IWeafern Union COMPANY who were the only ones