The Osceola times., 1888-09-01
A BIG STRIKE.

IDo Mockey System In Iitinoss anu Ao'""""
Tied Up by General strike of Engineers
Firemen. Brakemen and switchmeE-An
Obnoxious Master Mechanic the Bone OF
Contention.
EVANSVILLE, Ind, Aug. 20 The loco.
motive engineers, fremen. brakemen and
switchmen on the Peoria, Decatur &
Evansville, Evansville & Terre Haute,
Evansville & Indianapolis aud Evans
VILE Belt railroads, about five hundred
miles in all, went out on strike yester-
day at 2 p. m. The Immediate cause Of
tho trouble was the refusal of President
Mackey to discharge +. C. Smith, master
mechanic OF the Peoria, Decatur & Evans-
Vile railroad at Mattoon, Ill. The men
claim that Smith is overbearing and un-
reasonable, aud that they are unable to
agree with him. Smith has been on the
road since October. 1881.
Chief Arthur OF the Brotherhood OF
Locomotive Engineers, and CHIEF Sar-
gent of the Firemen's Brotherhood ar
rived In this city last Friday, and In
conference with General Manager Ewing
of the Mackey system demanded the i'm
mediate discharge of Master Mechanic
Smith. This was refused. Upon the re-
ceipt OF the refusal of the Mackey COM
pany TO comply with their demands,
Chiefs Arthur and Sargent, through their
committeeman, Messrs. A. M. Kimball
and c. j. Singleton, notified President
Mackey that the men would strike on
Sunday afternoon. Accordingly, at that
hour last evening the engineers, hremen,
brakemen and switchmen left their
places.
No riot or trouble is reported so far.
Little Is known Of the motives OF the
switchmen ard brakemen in joining the
engineers and fremen, as all refuse to
talk. However, the common cause OF
complaint--ths obnoxious treatment by
Master Mechanic SMITHS believed to be
the prime reason for the move.
President Mackey, when interviewed
last evening, submitted the following as
his side Of the case:
In October Mr. +. c. 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, and in a
brief time committee composed of some
Of the same men waited on me and de-
manded the dismissal OF Master Mechanic
Smith, which refused In the most posi-
tive terms. From that iime on there has
been insubordination to some extent con-
tinuously TO Master Mechanic Smith. At
the last difficulty we had, and when
MIR. Arthur was here, anticipating
we might dismiss some of the
prominent movers In that strike, they i'm
posed condition, that we would not at
any time dismiss an engineer or fireman
without hearing. This we consented to,
and after the dismissal of the two men
for improper conduct they called Chiefs
Arthur and Sargent and demanded an in
vestigation, which was accorded. They
abandoned their case as to these two
men, and then made new one demand
ing the dismissal OF Master Mechanic
Smith. replied that would investigate
the charges and take the necessary &C.
ton. See their inconsistency. They de-
mand the dismissal Of high official
without preferring charge: come to us
with this demand when we were overrun
with business, seeking to take advan-
tage OF our surroundings and oil
this week have been working on
our men to get them to join in this infa.
nous work. I charged them with this
mean, low, contemplate dodge, and their
chief, p. NJ. Arthur, admitted that this
time had been chosen because OF the
work we had to do, and now, this aft.
ernoon at two O'Clock, they spring this on
us, when we have thousands of people to
move, many of whom are long distances
from home, and but for the fact OF hav-
ing engineers In all departments, much
inconvenience would be visited upon our
passengers"
"Do understand then, that there Is no
objection to wages or other conditions"
"None, mono whatever. A band Of men
here conspired to make us dismiss Mr..
Smith, and have sought this chance to
spring the matter upon u.s."
The three railroads, it is probable, will
be able to run very few passenger trains
and no freights for at least day or two.
The strikers seem determined TO win.
II is impossible to tell with certainty the
number of men that can be obtained to
take the places Of the strikers If no COM
promise is effected, Neither Chiefs Ar
thur nor Sargent are in the city, the
former having returned to Cleveland, and
the latter to Terre Haute.