The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-19
MACHINISTS STILL OUT.
THnY REFUSE TO GO BACK UNDER
MASrE MACHINIST ANTI.

I N1~
Centrars Bmploy-Mr. Antz's State
nent of the Trouble-He Dsniss Hs
is a Negrophilist-TheM Men Say They
Quit Work as Individuals and Not
las Members of the Machinists' As
sociation-Their Complaint Against
Higher Officials.
The machinlsts from the Central rail.
road shops are still out, and say they will
not go back to work under Master Mechanic
Oscar ANTI. They are dissatisfied with his
administration Of affairs.
Mr.. Antz's version of the difficulty, as
given to MORNING NEWS reporter yester-
day, varies slightly, in some particulars,
from the account Of the machinists, pub
lished Yesterday.
1.-THE trouble started Mr.. ANTI said. "by
one Of the maohinists, Wagner, havixT q
difficulty with a negro named Stevens. en-
to do some work by the foreman upon a
car door, which he placed in the way Of
| Wagner and other men who were working
near by. They didn't like it, and Wagner
ordered the negro to remove the door,
doubtless addressing him very sharply. AS
the negro didn't move, Wagner took hold
| Of the door and showed it out of
hold of the door and both Of them struggled
with it, enc endeavoring TO put 1t in one
place and the other in another. When the
foreman came up Wagner walked away.
THE FIRST COMPLAINT.
Several of the men," Mr.. ANTI said,
came to me in the afternoon as a commit
| tee and made a statement Of the affair and
asked me to take action with regard to the
uncivil language used by Stevens, and also
| by the other negroes In the shop, saying
that they we're becoming insolent. Wag-
ner, who is young man and hot
| tempered, said the negro should be dis
charged. said that would take the mat
ter up and see that it was stopped, and
in the meanwhile" Mr.. ANTI added, 1.-THE
men went over to see Assistant Superin-
tendent Gibbes Of the motive power depart
ment and told him they could not get any
| satisfaction from me. Mr. Gibbes told me
afterward that he promised the men an
answer the next morning. He said
he could not talk with the men.
as the matter was in my department.
The difficulty occurred Monday morning.
| Tuesday afternoon the men saw Mr.. Gibbes.
| Yesterday morning they came to me for his
answer. l told them Mr. Gibbes had left
the matter in my hands. The men re-
| quested the discharge of the negro. I told
them that would not discharge him unless
had an investigation with the negro pres
| emit. The men asked when they could have
that. / told them at O'clock In the after
noon. | went to my Office to attend to
| other business, and had been there q
few minutes when two of the machinists
came in in their street clothes, having taken
off their working clothes, and said: Mr..
ANTI, the machiniSts in the erecting shop
have decided to quit work until the investi-
| cation at 3 O'clock They then went out
and all the men in the erecting shop or
rouudhouse-about eighteen in number
| quit work. At 8 o'clock had an investi-
| cation, with the negro present, and after
the testimony had been given reserved my
decision until this morning. spoke to the
men in regard to the action they had taken
| in quitting work In the morning at 1920
O'Clock in q body without obtaining my per-
| mission.
NOT ON A STRIKE.
| "They said they were not on a strike and
said they thought they had my permission
| In order to test the understanding of the
| other men, l sent one Of the men in the ma
chine shop, John Circoply, to the erecting
shop TO do some necessary work, IN order to
| get an engine into service. He refused to
do the work, which left me only one thing
TO do, and that was to discharge him. The
other men came to me and asked me to
reinstate Circoply. l said would do so IL
he would do the work assigned to him.
| gave him to understand that the other men
had told me they were not on O strike, and
| /, therefore, did not consider 10 q violation
| of his obligation TO his order to work when
| the other men had left. He still refused to
do the work, and refused to reinstate him.
All the maohinists then quit work, about
eighteen more. making thirty-six in all
out.n
"This morning." said Mr.. ANTI, II dis
charged the negro Stephens and had talk
with some Of the other negroes, explaining
to them that they would have to treat the
white men with proper respect.
| The machinists came in to see me about
9 O'Clock. and / told them considered both
the negro and the white machinist equally
at fault for creating a disturbance in the
shop during working hours, and 1 therefore
discharged the white man also. At that
they left and said they would take it to
higher authority. l then posted a notice
that all machinists who had quit work
without permission were discharged, and
that is where the matter stands now"
THE STRIKERS DISCHARGED.
Mr.. ANTI said that if the men want to GO
back to work now they will have to apply
for work the same as new hands, and he will
accept or reject them as he sees fit The
| executive otncers or the road are away on q
tour of inspection, and may not be back for
several days. Mr.. ANTI is acting entirely
on his own responsibility.
Mr.. ANTI said several Of the older ma
chinists, who have been in the employ of the
road for the last fifteen or twenty years,
and who are not members of the Machinists'
Association, are at work in the shops, and
il necessary he will take a hammer himself.
The lay-of, he said, will not seriously en-
barrass the company, as the work of the
shop can be done in Macon and elsewhere.
MIR. ANTI denied that he is a negrophilist
or that be has instilled any false ideas into
their heads.
The machinists held q meeting in the hall
over the Chatham Bank yesterday morn
ing. They said they were not on a strike,
and did not go out as members OF
the Machinists' Association, but as in
dividuals. They may inaugurate strike
in case their demands are not acceded to.
They are all members of the National Ma
chints' Association, to which nearly all the
machinists in the city belong.
THE OFFICIALS APPEALED TO.
A committee was appointed TO telegraph
Supt. Gibbes and acquaint him with the sit.
uation. Another committee was appointed
to visit the several machine shops of the city
and request the employers not to handle
any work for the railroad for the present, as
it would only serve to create trouble with
their men. II the trouble is not settled by