Evening journal., 1888-08-27
ONE CENT.
Indiana Roads Tied Up.
Engineers, Firemen and Brake
men Quit Work.
ALL ON ACCOUNT OF ONE MAN.
They Did Not Like Master Me@hanio
Smith, and Demanded His Discharge
Being Refused They strnck-serious
PredIcament OF Several Railroads.

nmitn, anu demanded hiH DihcnnFko
Being Refused Thcy struck-serious
Predlcament OF Several Railroads.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. Aug. 27--The local
engineers, iiremen, brakemen and switch
men ON the Peorin, Decatur and Evansville,
Evansville and Terre Haute, Evansville and
indianapolis and Evansville Belt railroads,
about 800 m les in all, went out on a strike
yesterday at 2 p. m. The immediate cause
OF the trouble was the refusal Of President
MaclIey 10 discharge H. Z. Smith, master
mechanic Of the Peoria, Decatur and Evans
vile road at Mnttoon, Ills. The men claim
that Smith Is overbearing and unreasonable
and that they are unable to agree with him.
Smith has boon ON the road since October,
1887.
Chief Arthur, OF the Brotherhoodsof Loco
motive Engineers, and Chief Sargent, Of the
Firemen's Brotherhood, arrived in this city
last Friday, and in conference with General
Manager Ewing, of the Mackey system, de-
manded the immediate discharge of Master
Mechanic Smith. This was refused. Upon
receipt of the refusal Of tho Macxey COM
pany to comply with their demands Chiefs
Arthur and Sargent, through their commit
teemen, Messrs. A. M. Kimball and G. J.
Singleton, notified President Mackey that
the men would strike on Sunday afternoon.
Accordingly the engineers, flremen, brake
men and switshmsn left their places.
No riot or trouble is reported so far. Little
Is known OF the motives Of the switchmen
and brakemen in joining the engineers and
firemen, as all refuse 10 talk. However, the
common CAUSE OF complaint-the obnoxious
treatment by Master Mechanic Smiths be-
heved 10 be the prime reason for the move.
rtsIa tttfu xrta -
mitted the following as his side Of the case.
'In October Mr.. f. G. Smith, Of Cincin-
natl, was appointed master mechanic at
Mattoon Soon after there were some petty
differences, which are constantly arising In.
all railroad work, aud in brief time COM
mittee, composed OF some OF The same men,
waited on me, and demanded the dismissal.
OF Master Mechanic Smith, which ] refused
in the most positive terms. From that time
on there has been insnbordination TO some
extent continuously 10 Master Mechanic
Smith. AT the last difficulty we had and
when Mr.. Arthur was here, anticipating that
we might dismiss some OF the prime movers
in the matter thoy imposed condition that
we would not at any time dismiss an engineer
or fireman without hearing This we con-
sented 20. They then made new demand
for the dismissal Of Master Mechanic Smith.
al replied that | would investigate the
charges and take the necessary action. See
the Inconsistency. They demand the dismis-
sal Of a high official without preferring a
charge, come to us with this demand when
we were overrun with business, seeking to
take advantage Of our surroundings, and all
this week have been working ON our men 70
get them 70 join In this infamous work /
charged them with this mean, low, contempt.
ible dodge, and their chief, p. NJ Arthur,
admitted this time had been so chosen be-
cause Of the work we had to do, and now at
2 o'clock they spring this on us, when we
have thousands Of people to move. many OF
whom are long distances from homo, and
but for the fact Of having engineers IN all
departments much Inconvenience would be
visited upon our passengerRn
'sDo understand, then, there Is no objee-
ton TO wages or other conditioner
"None whatever. A band Of men con-
spired 10 make us dismiss Mr.. Smith and
have sought this chance to spring the matter
upon u.s.
The three railroads, IL is proboble, win be
able to run very few passenger trains and
no freights for at least day or two II Il
impossible 10 tell with certainty the number
OF men that can be obtained to take the
places OF the strikers IL no compromise i.
effected Neither Chief Arthar nor Chief
Sargent are ia the city, the former having
returned to Cleveland and the latter K
Terre Haute.