The Portland daily press., 1886-02-16
STILL THEY STRIKE.
Five Thousand Manchester
Operatives Leave Work.
The Looms and SpindIes of
Amoskeag MiII stopped.
The Bates Mill at Lewiston
Does Not Start Up.
While the ST. croix Strikers
Resume Their Work.
Labor Troubles In the North
and South.

MANCHESTER, N. H., Feb. 15.--The strike
here has turned to lockout and the gates
of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Co.'s are
closed to its $500 employees. There is no
method or organization in the present move
ments. The company announced an increase
of u per cent last Friday, whereupon, first
murmurs of discomfort became apparent and
| first whispers of a strike were heard. On
| Saturday the weavers of three mills asked
| for greater advance, and in two of them
the men were told their requests would be
| taken before the agent ON his return from
| out of town.
They were not so Iwell treated in other
| mills, and did not startup their looms that
afternoon, neither did they permit others to
work in the same building. The increase
| asked is for ginghams to AZ cents per cut and
| 50 cents for dress goods Present prices are
| AZ and AZ cents respectively, while 45 and so
| are offered. This was the condition OF affairs
| this morning when the operatives assembled
| for work. But the weavers were very slow
| in starting up their looms. A committee from
| two mills waited upon agent Straw and ask
| ed for raise of 20 per cent, This they were
| told could not be granted, and Immediately
| afterward the weavers in Nos. s and mills
| went out, and proceeding to mills Nos. and
| y, WSlO olClO JUlnCQ ny OblClo, AO OAbliOo
| to the lower level were soon in their posses
| sion and the yard was filed with thousands
| of operatives Agent Straw then ordered all
| wheels stopped and the yard to be cleared.
and agent Straw announced that the
| he knew what he might expect,
| the demands of the operatives would not be
| granted. At o'clock the operatives formed
| in procession of thousands and marched to
| the Manchester rink, where they were ad-
| dressed by several speakers. The meeting
| resulted in a committee of eighteen opera
| tives being appointed to consult with Agent
| Straw Tuesday morning to determine if
| anything can be done to remedy the present
| situation. The meeting was adjourned until
| l o'clock Tuesday. The police have closed
| all the saloons. The operatives in the other
corporations remain at work but In case OF
a strike among them it issgenerally under
stood there will be lockout all around.
The Lewiston Shut Down.
LEWISTON, Feb. 15-Of the 1900 employees
of the Bates mill at Lewiston, only about 800
went in this morning. The mill ran this
forenoon, but shut down again at noon, as
there was not help enough to do any effective
work. The employees have made another
proposition to the managers, but have re-
ceiyed no reply.
All Serene at st. Croix.
CALAIS, Me- Feb. 15-The employees of the
st. Croix cotton mill resumed work this
morning, compromise between the strikers
and the mill managers ha- ing been effected
through an arbitration committee of gentle
men from Calais, St Stephen and Midtown,
whereby employees continue on precisely
same terms as before the strike Owing to a
disagreement with the spinners all hands
again went out at noon and the mill was
shut down, A conference was held the after
noon resulting in an adjustment and the
mill will again be started tomorrow, leaving
matters precisely as they were before the
employees went out with the exception that
reduction in wages announced by the mill
managers will not be made,
Another Advance.
ROCHESTER,, n H., Feb. 15.--The Norway
Plains Manufacturing Company posted no
tices today, announcing an advance of 10 per
cent in wages to take effect March 1st. They
employ 600 hands, and made reduction of
1ao ant or1a axraor nofO