Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-07
That if the Men Stand Firm They VIII
Win Their Fight.
The Burlington UnabletO Supply ltSei
With Competent Men in a Year
Strike Ordered Against the Is. \ NJ iol
Aiding the C., B. & Q.
To-Day Big With the Fate OF western
and Northwestern Roads.

o rest to-day. 1t was the least busy
dav that he and his lieutenants have n"u
since the Burlington strike began. All
were recuperating their energies Tor the
meeting tomorrow morning, when Is ~
whether or not the engineers anu
of western and ra'f
will 60 on strike. Among the hrH'
things said by Mr.. Arthur to a reporter
was: You can deny officially that there
was any secret meeting OF the chalrlhen
the grievance committees held yesterday
such as described in a morning paper. IL
is utterly false. The fact that the North-
western railroad still holds the ciasSltlca-
ton system is well known, but no meeting
was held to discuss that. No session OF
the grievance committees has been or Will
be held until tomorrow Chief arthur
then went on to chat about the state OF
affairs in the Burlington strike as
VIEWED BY HIMSELF
and comrades. Our reports" said he,
"are most reassuring. The fact that Tor
seven days there has not been a break Ia
the Brotherhood on this lineis OF itself OF a
most reassuring nature. On the contrary
we are in receipt, hourly, OF letters and dis
patches from all over the system, showing
the loyalty OF the men
rs it not a fact, Mr.. Arthur, was asked
that all the Eastern roads are giving the
Burlington a moral support, which. beIIig
equivalent to a financial one, G'v~s the
Brotherhood a clear right 10 discontinue
work on these outside roads,
II have no means OF knowing that other
lines are giving the Burlington mOrai sup
port. II they are, it is in violation OF Il
solemn pledge from the managers OF other
roads that they would maintain a strict
neutrality. In giving a party moral sup,
port, one is not maintaining neutral
ground"
9 IF YOU found that other roads were do
ing this, would you order a striker"
"If a grievance OF that nature was brought
to nv attention, [ should carefully look
into it," -,
lis it not probable that Congress- will be
called on to investigate this striker"
Congress will not be asked TO look into
it by US. There is no necessity for an III
vestigation. What we have done has been
done openly and has been given to the
public through the press"
IN your opinion could the manage snent
of the Burlington nave had mercenary mo-
tives in permitting the strike for tn" pur-
pose OF depressing stocks and buying them
in at low tgures?'
NO. | think the Burlington manage
ment misery, not mercenary. they pro
Tess a willingness to pay their men as much
as their neighbOrs do, and yet they VII
not"
DO you believe that all OF the 0 men
sent forward for distribution on the Bur
~lingtou for the past three days are b"n',
tide enrineers and tiremen?"
'Oh, | ave heard rumors, but | am not
going to follow the course OF tAe Burlington
and talk about hearsay matters. But
will say this: | know OF my own knowledge
that it is impossible for the Dad to get
competent engineers to run the line for Il
year to come. 1t can't make them from
the stock they have.'
"On what do you base the asertion??'
II have it on statistics in my possession,
showing that there are not 500 idle Con!Ne-
tent locomotive engineers i'll the country
out OF employment-not counting, OF
course, the Brotherhood men on the Bur
lington.'
And YOU are confident Of winning the
fight?'
"If the men stand firm it is beyond ques
ton that we will"
RUMOR OF ANOTHER SIRlkE.
A report gained currency late tonight
that the engineers and firemen on the Chi,
cago, Burlington & Northern would be
called out tomorrow. the Burlington 4
Northern is the new line to st. Paul and
has been generally regarded as an OffshOot
or ally OF the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy. 1t was said the vice president OF
the Burlington & Northern was in the city
this evening and had been formally notified
OF the proposed strike. A solid basis for
these reports was very difficult to obtain.
%sARGENT's STATEMENTS.
1--WE propose to fight it out Oh the Bur
lington Railroad,' were the words in which
Grand Master Sargent, OF the brotherhood
of Locomotive Firemen, put sentiment
around headquarters of the strikers this
evening. Both Mr.. Arthur and Mr.. Sargent
professed to be decidedly opposed to calling
out the engineers and tiremen on other
Western roads. Mr.. Sargent WAS Dart!cu-
larry emphatic in stating that there was no
intention of calling out other roads simply
for the purpose of bringing the Burlington
to terms. He said: I've shall not 20 look
ing for pretexts to pick ii quarrel with
other lines and call out their men. The OBJ
ject of calling together the chairmen Of the
various roads is to investigate reports that
there has been assistance given the Burling-
ton by connecting or parallel lines, and if
these reports are found to be true, | will
net say what may happen
THE B. 4 N. GETS 1T, TOO.
The report that the engineers and tiremen
of the Chicago, Burlington & Northern are
to strike a ascertained to be true. At
midnight Vice-President G. 3. Harris of
the Burlington & Northern was closeted
with President Perkins. OF the Burlirgton
Il Quincy. Mr.. Harris had been served
with a notice tonight. It was the result
o: a meeting of the engineers and firemen
held this afternoon at La Crosse. The
notice was substantially that if the Bur.
~lington & Northern did not cease inter-
changing traffic with the Burlington d
Quincy before I p. IN. Monday, the en-
gineers would strike in a body. Vice Presi-
dent Harris refused to be interviewed re-
garding the situation, but sent ont word
to an Associated Press representative that
the interchange Of traffic would not cease.
The company's message from Harris added:
The company propose to run the Bur
& Northern themselves"