St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-30
WANT MORE WAGES.
A Thousand Laborers on the
Seventh Street Cable Line
on Strike,
They Peremptorily Demand
an Advance Of Twenty-Five
Cents a Day
Col. Barr Declines to Call the
Bluff Made So Unex-
pectedly.
The Company Expects the Ma
jority Of the Strikers to
Return.

The 900 and odd laborers at work on
the new Seventh street cable line struck
at p. III. yesterday for an advance of
% cents day.
When the multitudinous bells of the
city rang out the announcement of
noon, nothing unusual was apparent to
the East Seventh street business men.
The employees of the street railway
company acted as they usually do at
that hOur-climbed from the trenches
and sat around on the dumps, eating
their dinner. They sat around in
groups, chatting in every language
under the sun. now trading a lump of
liver for a chunk of cheese, or shying
a piece of clay at a predatory dog.
There were no signs of a strike.
After they had finished their midday
meal they lit their pipes and stretched
themselves out OH the earth, as is the
habit of labOrers after dinner, just in
the same way as Thomas Lowry lights
his cigar and stretches himself out in
his well-padded arm chair after his
dinner. When the hour arrived for re-
suming their healthy and invigOrating
exercise of Shoveling dirt, they all
climbed down into their trenches and
proceeded to work as usual.
All? No. not all. One gang had sat
closer together during the dinner hour
than usual, and the conversation had
past. This gang is employed somewhere
between Jackson street and Broad
way. When l o'clock struck they
quietly and calmly gathered together,
left shovel, spade and pickaxe in the
trench and marched in a body to the
next gang west Of them. After a few
seconds talk this gang joined them and
thus augmented the group went up the
street to Wabasha. increasing in size
as they went. The news soon spread
and the crowd was again increased by
numerous outsiders and curious spec
tators. Back they went down Seventh
street. AS they marched, gang after
gang threw aside the implements they
were using and joined the great process
sion. The crowd marched all the way
down the street to Duluth avenue and
by 2 .. m. there was not a man at
work on the new cable car extension.
Having by this time swelied to over
1000 men the crowd went in body to
the power house out on the bluff. They
were seen coming and telephone mes
sage was sent to police headquarters.
1t was only few minutes before resi-
dents on Sixth street were startled at
seeing a squad of mounted police gallop
eastward as If it were matter of life
and death on which they were bound.
Then the patrol wagons came Gathering
along at full gallOp, and everyone
began to think that terrible riot was
in progress. But when the police ar
rived at the power house there was
nothing for them to do. and the brave
defenders of the law used cuss words
that made their horses ears twitch.
There was no riot,
NOT EVEN A LITTLE FIGHT.
The men who bad quit work had
simply gone up there to get some men
who were working behind the power
house to join them, and when the
mounted police arrived were mostly on
the return journey.
At labor headquarters number of
the striking street car drivers were
Willing away the time talking over the
situation and things when some one
rushed breathless into the room with
the information that the Seventh street
shOvelers and gas men had struck.
A satisfied smile crept over the faces of
those present, and all rushed out to
find out what was the trouble. Secre-
tary Cronin and others agreed that the
men had better have meeting at once
to come to some definite conclusions, as
it was well known that they were en-
tirely unOrganiZed and a few of them
were not even Knights of Labor. The
information was spread as rapidly as
possible among the men who had first
joined the ranks of the striking army.
Accordingly, shortly after O'Clock
they began filing into labor headquar-
ters. What motley throng they were!
From the nature Of their employment
they were dirty. They were none the
worse for that. But such a mixture!
sented. The majority were ap-
parently Scandinavians, with a
large admixture of sons of Erin,
Russians, Germans, Poles. italians,
French. English, Scotch, Fins and
American citizens. Young and old, re-
spectacle and disreputable, strong and
sturdy, weak and aged, all were blend
ed in one conglomerate mass, the uni
verSal covering of clay serving as a
symbol of the labor which had brought
them all to the same level. Here came
decrepit old man in rags, here group
of blonde Swedes, followed by a few
smoking short clay pipes. A few fine
looking, strapping fellows, and gang
of Polanders came next. A swarthy
old Frenchman and a brawny
Scotchman followed, and so on
till almost every class of la
bOrer was represented. Some car
ried dinner pals, some wore shirts
and no coats, some wore coats and very
little shirt, some smoked pipes and
some cigars. 1t looked as if the stream
would never cease, but when the hall
was filled they still kept coming. At
last the procession began to thin down,
and it was fortunate it did, as the hall
was packed so full that those inside
were crushed together like sardines in a
box. There was one fellow who seemed
to be acting as a self-constitued door
keeper. He was evidently not labor
ing man, for he wore one of those dude
Overcoats that are being sold on Sew
enth street for SS-Silk-lined. His satin
aecktie was tucked into the left side of
his vest to show off a fashy glass stud
that ornamented his shirt bosom.
He wore purgatOry collar and had
OIL on his hair. He was young, and his
big red hands obtruded themselves in
most conspicuous manner from the
frayed edges of his cuffs. When re-
porter attempted to enter the hall this
labor dude jOstled him away and pre-
vented his entrance. He was asked
who he was, and seemed surprised that
the reporter did not know him. How
ever, he did not condescend to give the
desired information, but said that no
one but strikers were allowed in the
hall. On one of the latter remoDstrat-
ing with him, he announced that the
- - reporters had not treated
them suuaralv and hv - thay,