The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-04-18
SURF. HARRINGTON QUITS.

IN oUPl. liAltltINGfION DULLES,
Bocnusc, though no longer Freo to NO
| According to his best Jutg mcnt, III,
Superintendent still Hears tho l.ssponsi
biii,y. N!ft
On the evening Of Friday, April 70
Mr.. w. i. Harrington, superintendent
OF tho Citizens and the Wheeling stree,
railway lines, rcinstated soycn rnploye:
OF tho shop department, whom no had
discharged tho Tuesday before On
Saturday morning Mr.. Harrington hand
ed the following communication 10 Mr.
John NJ. sweeny, tho president Of one
OF tho roads:
WnsrihSd, VIVA, April 10, 1892.
10 ht Hoard W Directors otihe Cit:ens and Irheti.
iig RuiIUuv Companies
GENTLEMES:--As instructed by you 10
settle tho matter OF tho discharge and
tho reinstatement Of the seven shop
employees so that tho street car employees
would not strike, l mot tho working
committee OF tho union, and tho only
arrangement that could DO effected to
avoid u strike was TO accedc 10 their de-
mands and roinstate all tho men in
their old positions, which did. Feel.
Ing that tho position OF superintendent
Is no longer ono OF freedom Of uclion,
yet with all tho responsibility still pres
ent, ] hereby respectfully tender my
resignation.
Yours, very respectfully,
tsi to IS gT.' w. i. HARRINGTON.
"On tho twenty.ninth day OF Jan.
uary," Mr.. Harrington said to m INTEL.
LldENCER reporter who called on him,
u prepared communication to tho
bonrd OF directors, urging tho compile
ton OF the new barn and shops. In
this paper-which, by the way, | was
unable 10 present to the board until tho
latter part Of February, no meeting Of
the board having been held in the in.
tcrim--l said that, with tho new barns
and shops in operation, l would be able
to effect saving'oi about $1,000 in the
wages paid to the barn and shop force
alone.
"I.ast Monday evening at meeting
OF tho board Of directors, l told tho
members that was now prepared to
effect in part the reduction in wages OF
the shop force. as promised by Inc in
my January report, and that in the
morning would discharge seven men
out Of the twenty-onc. They were, OF
course, glad 10 hear that l expected to
effect Il Swing. The next morning I
notified seven employees that their SER
vices would be no longer required. |
then employed two nachinists, and
also q shop foreman, tho latter man
with whom l was not acquainted, but
who calno to mo very highly recon-
lnendcd as n machinist and general re-
pair man. l anticipated no trouble.
Hero was the situation: l had dis
charged seven men, who were very good
men for the work required Of them in
the old barn, but who, in my Judgment,
were not specially suited to the nature
OF the work to be done at the new harms
and shops. Having discharged them,
! had hired three other men, thus effect
ing at once reduction in wages OF
about $50 week, or l20 year.
81 found, that same day, that therc
would be trouble. and saw and talked
with six individual members of the,
boards Of directors OF the two COM
panics. Each and all said they would
stand by me; tho reduction effected
saving, and l was presumed to know
whether the men under me were capa-
Bile OF doing the work required OF them,
or not. Thursday evening the board
was to meet The committee OF tho union.
There was, owever, no quorum of the
directors. On Friday evening there was
more than quorum OF both boards,
and had n talk with them. They told
me they would leave the matter in my
hands to settle. but that by all means
strike must bc avoided. They would
not have strike, they said. Then tho
directors left the Office and conferred
with the committee OF tho union and
the men whom had discharged. The
latter would accept no positions on the
cars as conductors or operators, but in
sisted that I should rcinstate them,
even ii the discharge OF the other three
men had hired became necessary. l
had been ordered to avoid a strike, and
told the men they could go back to
work Monday morning. The next day
/ handed in my resignation. 4
"Thus you have tho whole story in q
nutshell. Without doing injustice 10
myself l could not do otherwise than
resign the superintendent. Under
the circumstances, l feel that my
further incumbency OF the position
would be 4 irce, and that were to
remain l would be a fit and proper sub.
jcct for ridiculc."
In speaking OF the charges that had
at ono time been made that he WIS fill
ing up the different departments OF the
road with Atlantic City men and others
with whom he was acquainted, Mr..
Harrington said that of tho twonty-one
employees whom he had on the barn and
shop force only three were old acquaint-
ances; the other eighteen were men he
had never mot before he came to
Wheeling OF tho employees in other
departments, his brother, tho chief
lineman, had been with him for six
years; tho chief dispatcher has also
worked under him for long time, and
the chief engineer at the power house
was another man. in whom no had full
confidence. In fact. the latter had re-
duccd onc-half tho monthly bills Tor coal
used at the power house.
Messrs. G. J. Harrington, chief line
man; Joseph Z. Kearney, chief en-
gineer, and 9. L. Starr, chief car dis
| hatcher who Fromo here with Mr. IJ,r