The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1890-08-29
SERIOUS OUTLOOK.
Railroads United to Resist Strik-
ing Switchmen-

S~-~@-@
ing Switchmen-
No Other Course Remaining to Head On
the Concerted and Disastrous Action
of irresponsible Employees
Says Manager ChaPpel-
CHICAGO. Aug. 2Z-''Every Chicago
railroad and all their connections and
every railroad in the United States will
be tied up unless there is a withdrawal
of the demands of the striking switch
men of the Stock Yards Switching As
ISOLATION. :" said General Manager Chap
pell, of the Chicago & Alton railroad, of
the stock yards strike. THE railways
will not grant the demands of the switch
men and will not yield to their threats
No amount of injury to property or
months of idleness and even the abso-
lutte loss of every cent of revenue by
every Chicago road will swerve the
railways from this course.
This matter was discussed at q
meeting of general managers after
word had been received that the stock
yards sTitchmen had struck The gem
eral managers of nearly all the roads
were present and they we're fortified by
the presence of many presidents and
vice-presidents. All were authorized at
reTious consultation to enter into an
agreement to fight to the end, no mat
ter what the results may be. And every
man spoke and entered into such an
agreement, which is that all Chicago
railways will stand together as one in
dividnal To oppose the unjust demands
made upon the Stock Yards Switching
Association or upon any of the inter
ested railways 1t is the first time that
the railways ever united. They will
stand firm as rock, however, If it ties
up every railroad in the country in
definitely and bankrupts all of those
waging war.
1T has come to a question of the
roads being bankrupted by irresponsi-
BILE employees and the roads decided to
fight right here / expect every Chicago
road will be tied up How much further
the war will extend no one can foretell.
But the fullest scope of stagnation has
been canvassed thoroughly and our
course is laid out Our course as agreed
upon has been made necessary by the
demands and lawless conduct of the
men. They quit work without
a moments notice, leaving thou
sands of dollars worth of freight
to perish on the track. They do not
meet US first in arbitration, but inflict
injury that is beyond calculation in dol
lars and cents. There seems to be no
power in the courts to check these men.
To get that power is the reason of the
combine entered into by the railways.
AS to this last demand, I will say that
it means the advance of pay of every
switchman in the country. The present
rate of wages of the switchmen
is SIS per month for the night
foremen of crews, $40 for night
helpers, $40 for day foremen and SOS
for day helpers These figures are on a
basis of ten hours per day for twenty-six
days Overtime and Sundays are paid
for at an advance over the scale. The
men all earn from SS5 to SOS per month.
The scale of wages was given the men
in settlement of the strike of 1881. 1t is
the standard scale and extends all over
this country. This small cloud threat
ems to develop into the biggest cyclone
the railway interests have ever known. >
The strike of the switchmen oil
the stockyards put new phase on
the situation yesterday morning. Il
was decided to dissolve the assoc atior
and allow each road to do its own switch
ing. Superintendent Boyce, of the Rock
| Island, and Superintendent essler, Of
the Burlington. together with several
other members of the old directory Of
the Switching Association went to the
stockyards to personally assume di
rection of the fight. The striking
switchmen were told that their services
were no longer required as new mel
would be procured to do the switching
During the early hours of the morning
little was done in the way of clearing
the tracks of the freight cars, but it was
announced that work would commence
in earnest shortly before noon.
The difficulty has cost those directl
interested not far from $500, 600. The
packers who shipped their meat to meet
certain steamers and markets have
been unable to do so, and contracts
made have been forfeited. There are
fully $50 cars of dressed meat in the
yard and each car contains 90, 600 pounds
and the loss at the market price means
considerable. Swift & Co. s cars that have
been standing near their house since
Friday, were opened yesterday morning
and the contents were found to be
spoiled, totally unfit for any thing but
tanking purposes.
None of the big packers with the ex-
ception of Armour and Swift did any
killing and they did but little. The
buyers and sellers assembled under the
runways and discussed the strike. They
made no purchases though the receipts
were decidedly large.