Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-05-14
WILL BE GIGANTIC.
The. Lockout of Stone Workers
Now Pending.
a HUNDRED THOUSAND INVOLVED.

The Hosts of Powderly and Gompers
United in the Struggle and Backed
by Plenty of Funds-The Other Side
Represented by the New England
Quarry Owners Who Supply Stone for
the Whole Country-An the Associated
Trades Involved.
NEW YORK, May 14.-One of the most
gingantic labor struggles in this country
threatens to start today if the New Eng
land quarry-owners carry out their an
nounced intention to shut down the
whole of the quarries which they control,
and there is at present no indications that
they vel WAIVER. just how many men will
be affected it is hard to say until it is
known how many owners fulfill their
threat, but representative of the Granite
Cutters union said yesterday that if the
lockout continued one week there would
be 100, 600 men in idleness as a result.
knights and Federation United.
These quarry owners supply stone for
all the large buildings as far west as Chi
cago and Kansas City, and while they
have been talking lockout the unions
have been securing the Endorsement of the
building trades of the large cities. As
soon as the lockout is ordered they threat
en- to drop the defensive and make such
an attack by ordering strikes on these
buildings that within few days the
quarry owners will vince. Both the
Knights of Labor and American Fedora
ton of Labor are one in this struggle and
have thrown aside their petty differences
for time to stand shoulder to shoulder in
the fight.
The Grant Monument Involved.
The board of walking delegates of the
building trades in this city and the build
ing trades section of the Central Labor
union have pledged their assistance, as has
also the board of walking delegates of
Brooklyn. The men on two buildings
have already been called out, and the
building trades section has notified all its
affiliated unions to withhold their con-
tributions from the Grant monument I'M
til committee it has appointed waits on
General Horace Porter AMI obtains an as
surance that until the lockout is broken no
more stone for the monument will be re-
ceived from the Union Granite company,
of Friendship, Me, which is one of the
the chief concerns in the combine
Works That VIII Have to Stop.
Besides number of buildings that will
be affected in this city, including the addi-
ton to the Mutual Life building on Mas
sau street, strikes are also threatened on
the state capitol in Albany, where $50 men
are said to be employed. the national
library in Washington and the Reading
terminal in Philadelphia. The stonecut-
tiers have already struck at the Betz build
ing in Philadelphia because Booth Broth
ers were supplying the stone.
Six Thousand Already Out.
There are now about 5000 men locked
out in the quarries of Stony Creek, Conn:
Hallowell, Vinal Haven, Hurricane Island
and Friendship, Me-; Cape Ann and Red
Stone, n. H; Dare and West Drummer
| ston, Va; Rockport Me-, and Haverhil,
Mass, Among the places expected to be
locked out today are Quincy and Bay
View, Mass: Westerly, r. l.; Milestone
Point, Conn; Mantle, R. l.; Montpelier,
VT; West Sullivan and Mount Waldo, Me.
The Unions Flush of Funds.
1t is calculated that 500 granite cutters
| and 5000 quarrymen, together with the
blacksmiths and banker men, will be
stopped tonight, making a total of about
10000 men locked out. All these unions
are very powerful, with large reserve
funds, and a determined resistance Will be
made. The Granite Cutters union has
14,OOO members, and the national secre-
tary, josiah B. Dyer, has sent word to the
local union to stand firm and fight.
Will Even Invade the Cemeteries.
One curious feature of the strike is the
necessity it will create for calling all the
stone workers out in monumental yards
which surround the several cemeteries.
They are working night and day to COM
plete their work before Decoration Day.
but it looks inevitable that many graves
will have to be decorated without head
stones.
A Murderous Crook Convicted