New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-07-20

were nastlly put on In the dresslng-room and then
the tide flowed downward into the street. Most of
the men had reached the main floor before the girls
and women who had left their desks began to come
down in the elevators The first party of the female
strikers were greeted with loud applause when
they reached the ground floor. Their faces were
flushed under the gaze of hundreds of eyes they
walked modestly through the hallway into the
street The long procession OF strikers as 1t passed
the executive offices on the third floor viewed
by several of the subordinate officers and clerks of
the company through the open doors of their offices.
AS soon as the operators began to go out, Supern-
tendent w. G. Humstone hurried up to the operat-
ing-room with two policemen. The services of the
latter were not required. the strikers departing
speedily as possible and with no disorder. few
of the men disposed to be hilarious but other
wise, where vent was given to any emotion. the
expression was simply one of warm satisfaction at
the large numbers who were supporting the Broth
erhood. In half an hour the crowds of the
strikers had left the vicinity of the building most
of them going directly to the public meeting that
was held at Thirteenth-st and Eighth-ave.
Afew minutes after the exOdus,a person connected
with the company informed TRIBUNE reporter
that the strikers had left only twenty-five mon
and thirty women behind them These viewed as
spectators the departure of the strikers. but after
the last one had gone they resumed their work
usual. The two policemen summoned by Mr..
Humstone and one of the Western Union door
keepers kept guard over the door to the operating
room for the rest of the day. later in the day allow
ing reporters to look in to see an array of tables
occupied by many less persons than had been at
work in the forenoon.
The first outpourng of the strikers from the
Western Union building instantly attracted the at
tentlon of persons passing by and drew many per-
sons through curiosity to the windows and door
ways of the ne ghborng stores and Offices. For
half an hour the scene was animated and unusual.
FILLING THE PLACES OF THE STRIKERS.
After the excitement of the departure of the
strikers had subsidized and the remnant of the force
had settled itself back into its seats the music of
the instruments resumed. But it was
strangely altered song. Instead of 450 saunders,
less than fifty sent out their clicking notes.
Among the earliest visitors to the operating room
were the officials of the company. All nearly all
of them were formerly practical operators, two of
them General Superintendent Tinker and Manager
Dealy. having ranked as experts Gen
eral Eckert himself went up and with
smile dropped into a deserted chair
and began to manipulate tho key of an instrument
His fingers had lost their cunning and he did not
try long. Others were more persevering; Manager
Dsaly, Superintendent Humstone, General
Superintendent Tinker, Secretary Brewer and
Company, fell to with will and kept down
the plethora of the copy-hooks to the
best of their ability until substitutes were found to
relieve them. The operators from the executive
offices quickly pressed into service, and calls
were sent to members of the night force who
were known to be loyal to the eco company, ANY:
eight or ten young women, who were
once put to work. Within an hour the night men
gan to straggle IN. At p. m Mr. soperyille e, ex
hibited the operating room to Mr.. Gould, Mr. Glen
DENIM Mr.. Terry and one or two other directors ne
also allowed the reporters peep. ABOUT lOO
men and women were at work including the clerks
secretaries and subordinate officers OF the company
" 1t is about one-thlrd of our usual force" said
operators here and not one deserted the
company. The brotherhood was foolishly
I'VE are having applications for work every few
minutes" said Mir. Rumstone, "and several expert
on %en sTs fsteG ase Gw hfIF we
Later in the day the operators employed by
some of the stock brokerage firms that have - pri-
Union Company after their days work was
euded. Certain firms opened their wires ior
the accommodation of their nelghporys,, DuI
only TO a limited extent Scranton d WIZARD
charged regular rates for such messages and
reported the business to the Western Union Com
pany. A messenger came TO the office OF cyrus w.
Field about p. m., and reported that there were
only three operators left at the PRODUCE EHciaS9'
lis the Chicago wire closed y asked Mr. fleld'
Go down at once to my son, Edmund Field,
and say TO him that Colbron, Day d Field nave
private wires TO Chicago and Phlladelpnia anu tnaE
they are at the service OF tho Produce EX hange II
they are needed"
Students of tclegraphy went from several schools
ana tired their inexperienced hands at tue
work, night men came to work during the day
and day men worked INTO the night ana rested Mneh
weary upon cots set out IN t4e 3e Wessrn Union
Company was put by the strike OF ts men anu tue
press of business which never eased for a moment
TALK WITH MIR. soMERvILLE.
So soon as the strike had fairly begun communl-
cativeness on the part of the Western Union
officials ceased They had, indeed very little time
to talk. For an hour they were all
in the operating-room, and after that
time thoy fitted from place to place with an e1-
cited ceerity that told of tho pressure of busy
thoughts upon their minds. General Eckert, when
he came down from the seventh floor, withdrew
into his room and was more except by
his clerks and few directors. MIR.
Bates, Mr.. Humstone and Mr.. Dealy were
too full of work to give information. Mr Sonher-
vile was the medium of communication between
the company and the public and 1t happened ire
auently that he was unable TO give Information Oh
the kind required. lie sald ,
81 can't tell you the number OF men who lett thls
Office and do not know how many of our Offices in
the city have been closed. We had 413 operators
up stairs when the signal was gwen we now have
one third of that number at work. and tnnk tnat
this is about the situation Throughout
the country. We are going to get aone we Fave
operators applying for work all tue time ana ale
filling up the force rapidly. AZ 2:45 p. m we were
only Two hours behind on Chicago business and
forty-iye minutes on Philadelphia business.
Not single cable operator has left bis - post
and the cables are going all right. There
are enough operators at work to enable us to handle
the bu .ness il noC fairly WELL at least TO handie IT,
Tie strike Is not 50 general as that OF 1870 ~
seems to me, but still we can't tell how IT.
throughout the country. General Eckcrt mas
received information that at O'Clock
10 men were at work in the main Office IN Chicago:
at Cincinnati "a men, and an ample force at
all other points the Cincinnati district; only one
man went out at Columbus, so men are working at
ST. Louis, 80 at Kansas City, At Ii tie Rock, at
Houston, B at Galveston, and at Dallas"
What is the disposition of the Western Union
officers with reference TO the strike u