The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1888-01-01
NOT A SUCCESS.
The ORDER TO STRIKE A FAILURE
Only . Few Of the 3aen Respond tn the
Order-Freight Moving - Usual
The Road Not Crippled.

| PHILADELPHIA, December 31.-Nearly
| one thousand men in and around the
extensive freight depot Of the Reading
Railroad Company at Willow street
wharf was out ON a strike this morning,
and the work Of handling freight there
is consequently badly crippled. This
action Of the men was in pursance of
decisions of various local assemblies of
Knights of Labor last evening to support
the order of the Reading convention.
The men who were out were en-
ployed as conductors and brake
men ON the Willow street shifting
crews, and in handling freight and in
other capacities at the depot. At the
general Office of the company on Fourth
street no information regarding the sit
uation could be obtained this morning.
The officials state that they had not
single thing for publication. Every
thing was reported working smoothly at
the depots, at Ninth and Green street,
and Sixteenth and Pennsylvania Av-
enue.
SMALL FORCE AT PORT RICHMOND.
At Port Richmond the non-union men
who took the places of the strikers sew
eral days ago were at work, but the force
is a comparatively small one and nothing
like the usual amount of coal is being
handled there by the company. About
800 coal handlers were formerly en-
ployed at the Port Richmond wharves,
while it is estimated that not over $50
are so employed at present.
VERY BUSY AT READING.
READING, December 3l.-Up to noon
to-day there were no signs of a strike on
the Reading Railroad ia this section. At
the company's car and machine shops
it is said that the men have not been as
busy as now for ten years. Heretofore
in the winter time many suspensions
were made and the employees retained
We're reduced to eight hours. Now every
man has ten hours work and many
make over time.
A STRIKE WOULD BE ILL-TIMED.
Several Knights of Labor assemblies
of this city had meetings, and the pre-
vailing sentiment of the members was
that a strike would be ill-timed and not
advisable, and that nothing would be
gained thereby. There was not any de-
crease in the number of coal cars which
passed through here SO far to-day, COM
mencing with this morning. This is at
tributed to the troubles in the coal re-
gions and the stoppage at Gordon and
Mahoney Plains.
IN EXCELLENT SHAPE.
General Dispatcher Bertonel said this
morning, 1--WE are in excellent shape.
We ran out twenty-five full coal trains
from the coal regions last night This is
about the average run compared with
the same day two weeks ago. Our trains
of course are not running as full, but it is
safe to say that we sent down fully
5000 coal cars last night. There were
seventeen trains OF empty coal cars
passed north through Reading destined
for the mines.'
MORE MEN HIRED.
Nearly three hundred men have been
hired in this city within the past two
days. Most of them were sent to Port
Richmond and Palo Alto, while a few
were sent to Tamaqua, Gordon and
Shamokin. Some engine men were
hired this morning and sent to Port
Richmond and other places. The Off
cials in this city say that their troubles
on the road in this vicinity are over,
that they expect to cope successfully
with the men at Port Richmond and
other points i'm Philadelphia, but that
the greatest danger is from a coal strike.