New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-08-21
AJI. QUIET IN THE RAILWAY YARDS.

There was indication at the Grand Ceh'r"'
ton or freight yards yesterday that there was s'H
a, pualo About twenty freight trains were sent ou'
q, N.vy York Yesterday. and similar number were
ho,,,b, In The day before seventeen were sent out
and nineteen brought In. Passenger trains were ais
matched on scheduled time and there were only '"e
umal delays with incoming trains The Ceh'r"'
ca,s do not believe that there Is foundation ior
tho rcport that hrcmcn ntond to strike Tine
mon. the officers say, are we'll paid and they have
M orlcrances The Brotherhood OF Locomotive Fire
man hive contract, with many Of the roads. and II
they break the agreement made, many OF them VIII
lo.e chances for promotion IL Is also said tha' 'c
constitution Of the union contains clause winch pr'
hlb,ts them from engaging In sympntheuc su!hes'
Tn. brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers also nave
signed contracts. and the railroad oitciais oo HUI
think they will violate those agreements.
Many Of tho strikers now say that when the demand
for more DAY was made they made the argument that
they ought to receive Just as much a. te swl,chm",
who worked OF BunalO. They say tiist liey
think they are entitled to just as much money az
swttchmen working at the western points as thcy 10
the same kind OF work. The New-York Central ana
west sho-e officials however, say that no such argl-
m.nts were made when the increase was asked ror,
and even II hey had been 1t would not have chongeo
the situation
"when the New.Yorh Central's general manager
Mr. Touccy, and I met a committee oi s"i.o""o'
two or three years ago. when the men demanded more
General manager OF tho Wost Shore Company, yester
aov d" At that time the men wanted an advance, ana
a very material one was made we aefeeo 10 Ps''
more wages We signed such an agreement ana VIC
kept H. The switchmen also signed an agreement
but they did not keep IT, As soon as they saw al
opportunity TO break their contract they did So mat
opportunity came last winter, when the ten-honr law
went into effect All tho tranmen and uacklnen are
maid on an hour has and We continued to pay the
men what VIC agreed after the law went into erect.
ado the svitchmen west Of Buffalo set 10 per
cent more than you are paying the men 4, buh"io'
"They do on somo OF the roads" admitted Mr.
Layng Il do not believe they are PAID any more
on the Michigan Central. but they do get about 10
pcr cent more on the Lake Shore. Bnt that is no
reason IN this case why the men should demand
more pay. They received an advance when our
they practically agreed not TO do 50 ,chou ashosais
agreement with them mnde. and they had no
hight to strike when they hah practically agreed h0t
10 n, so What IL tho use Of making and signing
Agreements with II they don't propose to Keep
themi That IL the way we look at the present
case We kept our agreement, the men should have
kept theirs and that Is the reason we decihcN 10
mako the 10 per cent advance
General Manager laying made the emphatic stat>
ment yesterday that Just long Is he Is general
manager of the West shore road the men who nave
taken the places OF tho strikers VIII not be dscharsed
lie made this statement soon after receiving 'he
proposition 70 arbitrate from Grand Master
sweeney lie said he didn't propose 10 reply to Mr..
sweeneys letter. IS the propositions made could not
be accepted In speaking further Of tho matter, Mr.
| Laying said
az have received the communication OF August III
signed BY Mir. sweeney Grand Master, switchmens
Mutual Aid Association OF North America, but have
not replied TO II. know OF no business or other
conn ction between the West Shore Railroad and his
association or himself. and there certainly Is no
necessity for him, citizen OF another STATE 10
volunteer In regard to any dispute (Which In this case
IA nure,v Imaginary between this company md its
cmnloves As n matter OF fact no dispute exists be-
tween this company and any OF its employees ma
thor. is therefore nothing TO nrbltrate We always
have treated our men fairly and kindly and have kept
all our e,igng emcnts honorably. There Is 10 'roup'
.,cept when some meddllng agitator for his own
scOsh and dsturbs peaceful reatons ana eoec's
by threats the employees into abandonment Of their
noss di,resnrdlns all agreements with the company
and In the end bringing ruin upon The men ana
desutuuon upon their families
arhs mon who left the service Of this company. as
am informed NJ his command within the past Few
dave at Buffalo, did so without warning ana oy h'r
,o,nn,arv act dissolved their relation TO this oDnl'
many II they are ever again employed by thi' com
panv II will not be through the Intervention OF any
self constituted authority. Especially Will THIS not
lac done when the suggestion Of their being taken back
,n,o service is nc oompanled By such threats rs are
contained In the letter. II Is no iaut of ours tha'
| the men are Idle. They were not discharged nut
| Voluntarily rave up the performance OF Their agree
n.rt and in a manner which their advisers doubtless
believed would obllge the railroad authorities to com
mi, the management and control OF their property
| and hus,nrs into their hands. In this they
were mistaken and II they arc to have any redress Tor
the consequences Of their nIjndscd action they shoud
.eck II from those who. for whatever reason, Induced
them TO resort measures - disastrous IN thcr re-
suit TO themselves
- The West shore road will never again need the
| man who have discharged themselves Yesterday
NO moved about coo cars-a there were In the yards
| and DAY we moved many mor. The reason there
uers more today is because the Nickel Plate and Lake
shore had been hong back carr and to day they go'
| to work.
| General Manager To,ccy OF the New-iork Central.
also says that more agreements VIII Dc maze WIN
the men who left their posts at Buffalo and therefore
their services will never again hc required M
roucev admits that som. OF the svitchmrn west
Of Buffalo are getting what Is known as the lineage
rote which is an ad, ance but be says that such nm
argument is not n reason why the men should strlh'
They slencd an agreement with us some time ago,
said Mr. To,ccy, land they should have Kept IT, IL
| tho men will not keep agreements we do not care 10
| have any dealings with them'
The question whether strike would occur IN inc
Lehlgh Valley and Erie yards In Jersey CITY was
| IN the Inns OF every railroad In those yardi
| Yesterday Every union man In these yards, ant
most OF the employees there are union men was nervous
md excited over the alarming reports from luifao
! Many OF them believed that strike would occur a
this end Of the road within twenty four hours. out
Of the large number Of men employed In the E1'
| wards not more than ten could be found In a day
! search who were avowcdy IN favor Of sympathetic
strike. The Erie yards presented the same opathct
| appearancc they have had during tile last six days
| About five freight trains came In during the day. bu
| no, n car came from Buffalo
! Mr. Waters Is working night and day In his onlc
in the Eade passenger station in Jersey City. He Il
probably the hardest working railroad man In New
York or Jersey City Just now. lie said yesterday Il
Wei, instead Of
sick and suffering;