The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1894-05-03
THE GREAT STRIKE.
FIR. HILL AND THE STRIKERS AS
FAR APART AS EVER.

The Pr eSident of the Great N )rthern
Declines am Offer to Hold u Public
Conference, and Says He InteU IL
to Operate His Road.
st. Paul, April 27.-It is war to the
knife and knife to the hilt. This is now
the state of affairs as regards the Great
Northern strike. The men have notified
Mr.. Hill that they will hold no further
conference and that they refuse to arbi-
trate They demand the restoration of
the old schedule and will accept nothing
else. This means that the strike will
be fought out on its merits, and that
one side or the other will be defeated in
the end.
When President Hill received a letter
from the men representing the strikers
announcing their determination he imme-
diately began preparations to operate the
road. A freight train was made up in
the yards in st. Paul and manned by u
full crew and guarded by n number of
deputies the train started on it's journey
toward the coast. 1t is almost certain
that there will be serious trouble before
the train gets through, or even before it
gets out of Minnesota The strikers
along the line are determined that moth
ing but mail trains shall run until their
demands are complied with, and many of
them are in u mood that means bloodshed
if necessary to carry their point.
1t is not known just what action will
be taken by the strike leaders. They
say that they do not contemplate calling
the men out in st. Paul and Minneapolis,
but it is thought thai a strike will be
declared in the Twin Cities within a day
or two. President Debs, of the A. X. o.,
is suffering with fever, and is confined
to his room it the hotel Vice President
Howard has charge of the strike.
Helena, Mont, April 27.-News of the
ult:matum of President Hill, of the Great
Northern, was to a certain extent q sur
Prise to the strikers in this city. The
Jner had en- idea that the conference
would last several days. and that in the
end Hill would grant the demands. 1t is
generally conceded that the greatest
struggle between railroad men and the
L. ilroad will be on the Montana Central
from Great Falls to Butte. Director
HogGn, of the strikers, who organized the
strike on the Great Northern, and who
is practically the general in command,
after receiving Hills offer for the men
to return to work, the matter of the
schedules to be taken up later, and all
disputed points to be referred to q board
of arbitration, their finding to be final,
gave the following to the press:
Mr.. Hill should understand by this
time that the conditions under which the
men will return to work are that the
company restore all wages and schedules
in existence prior to the first cut made
in 1893. There can be no departure
from this, the original proposition, which
was submitted to General Manager Case
April 13."
St. Paul, April 2S.-The Great North
ern strike has gone into effect at st
Paul and Minneapolis and at all points
on the line from this city to the coast
Within FIVE minutes after the committee
had arrived at the decision to call all
the men out the order had been sent out
ty President Dehs, and the fight is now
On in dead earnest. The company claims
that it has suffcit mt men now in it,
service who will remain at work, while
the American Railway union assert just
the contrary.
President Debs was seen by a reporter
just after the comm ittee adjourned, and
when asked what was the situation, he
replied:
Everything is at a standstill in tn:
Great Northern yards in this city, anC
the men have almost unanimously obeyeC
the order to strike. Three trains vert
stalled in the yards at the Jackson stree
crossing Two of these were freigli
trains, respectively, of the Omaha anC
Burlington roads on their way to the
Minnesota transfer, but unable to pro
Ceed on account of the yard swltchme1
being out with the strikers, and the pas
senger train of the Eastern Minnesota
railroad, which is part of the Grea
Northern system, was also standing a
the same point and the engineer anC
fireman had deserted their engine. TIL,
conductor was standing beside the traiI
but refused to talk. The train left tn,
depot at LOO on it's way to Duluth, it,
crew having not evidently heard of tn
CIDER to go out until they reached th'
yards. The train was there deserted b,
all Of it's crew except the conductor, ant
the baggageman and brakemen returned
to the city. The train is occupied b!
quite a number of passengers and i
made up of the ordinary passenger an(
Pullman coaches, mail car, baggage anC
express car. II was not the intention o
the committee that the strike should ap
ply at once to the Eastern Minnesota, bu
the employees of that road are arparentl.
determined not to be behind their com
rades on the other lines.
1t appears now that unless the strik
ers of the Great Northern become riot
GUS and commit depredations other thai
interfering with the running of train
state troops will not be called out. Il
calling on the United States authorize
for protection and placing the trains il
the care of United States marshals, tn
state authorities appear to believe tha
the Great Northern management ha
placed the matter in the hands of tn
federal government, and if the marshal
are not able to cope with the strikers tn
United States trocrs will be called t
their assistance. It is stated that tn
Third infantry at Fort Smelling is bcin
held in readiness to move at a moment
notice to any point where there may b
trouble. Gen. Bend called at the capitc
| tLis morning, but found THAI nothing neI
regarding the strike had been report =
there. All the officials had heard was
vague rumor that the Great Norther
freight train sent out yesterday afternoo
had been stopped and discontinued at 81
Cloud, No reports of trouble ha
reached the governors or any of th
other Offices. There was no trouble @
st. Cloud. The. train was abandoned ow
irg to the fact that the road could nc
secure men.
President Hill was called on immed
ately after the order for a general strik
had been promulgated, and stated tina
he had very little additional to say othe
than what had already been given ou
Tie company, he said, proposed to opel
ate its road independe mt of the America
| Railway union.
Il do not Think said Mr. Hill, "tha
ony great proportion of the men wi
obey the order, and / do not anticipat
sny difficulty in getting men to operat
the trains. intend that every yhet
on the line shall be running in as shol
G. time as possible, and this latest moI
of the committee does not seriously altt