St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-03-12
Railroads Preparing to SIN ash
the Railway Telegraph
erS' Order.
A Detective Spying on the
Members in the Vicinity
of Omaha.
His Mission Found Out and
His Movements
Watched.
Truce Declared Between the
Chicago Roads and
SWitchmen.

OMAHA. March 1l.-IuformatiOn has
just been gathered by the Omaha d.
vision OF the Order of Railway Teleg-
raphers of a contemplated onslaught
on the order by the roads centering III
this city. Omaha division Is the second
strongest in the organization, and
the ptrpose was 10 concentrate on
it. and by breaking it to mtimidate
the other aud weaker divisions. Some
TWO weeks ago Secretary +. +. Gilliland
and c. \. r. Smith, one of the Omaha
delegates to the convention of the order
in Toronto, learned OF the presence in
this vicinity of a man named ID. +.
Kennedy, who was possessed OF
an Q. Il. I. card and creden-
tials and other recommendations
as an order man, and whose actions
were rather suspicious. Smith and
Gilluand placed watch on the man
and found that he was a representative
of St. LOUIS detective agency, and that
he was accompanied here by two other
men, who had been engaged to work up
the entire Elkhorn and Northwestern
roads, securing for them the names OF
Q. Il. I. ra9n. and doing this work as
Regularly Affiliated Members
of the order. They we're all equipped
with cards. showing them 10 be mem
bers of the telegraphers' organization.
DEVELOPMENTS showed that their work
was not to be confined to the Elkhorn
and the Northwestern. but was TO eX-
tend over all. or a majority at least OF
the Western roads, and Superln-
tendent OF Telegraph McFarlane,
Of the EikhOrn, was the center
Of authority, he controlling the whole
campaign and sending the men, not
only over his own road, but to others.
The detectives were placed under sur
villance by Smith and Gilliland, who
nut regular .. K. 1. men, upon their
track. These SubdetectiveS succeeded
in procuring the cipher of the railroad
detectives and McFarlane and share OF
the correspondence passing between
them. and this correspondence bears
out the assertion made above. ID. +.
Kennedy, the head Of the trio OF
detectives. was to assume q commission
as organizer for the telegraphlc brother
hood, and in that way was TO obtain the
information which was to result III
working the destruction Of the order IN
this section. and presumably through
out the entire West, where the strike
feature OF tue organization has been
most troublesome TO the companies.
KennedY's List
of reported operators has been seen,
and the suggestions that Supt. McFar-
lane made have also been looked over
by the two brotherhood men, with the
result of Indicating clearly that united
attempt was to be made on the
life of the order as soon as
the detectives had cleared up their
work of investigation and had been
gone from the section reasonable time.
A part Of the contract was that dis
charges should not come so soon that
the men would not be able to fix the
blame on Kennedy and his associates,
as they feared for their safety should 1t
be known that they were traitors to the
order upon whose card of recommends
ton of membership they had worked
with the operators to undo them. AS
the convention of the telegrapherS is but
TWO months away, it was anticipated,
according 10 the attack on the leaders,
that this unified action was proposed tC
make the outlook for the future of the
order so dismal that at this convention
it might be deemed advisable TO dissolve
the organization. The operators are IN
possession of so much information as tC
the plans of the other side, however
that they claim to be able to fight then
and to WIN easily, copying their every
action.