The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-23
EMPLOYERS DAY IN COURT
The Testimony Before The National
Strike Commission.


Favorably to the Strikers - Had
Never Heard Violence Counseled by
Leaders or Laborers.
Chicago, Aug. 22.-At the opening OF
this mornings session of the national
labor commission, Chairman Wright an
nounced that the majority of the wit
nesses for labor had been heard and that
the railroads and the Pullman company
will now be allowed to present their side
of the case. We have still" continued
Mr.. Wright, "a number of labor leaders
TO hear who live outside Of Chicago, but
who have not been able to get here. They
will be heard at the proper time. In the
mean time, we have been furnished by
the Pullman company and by the rail
roads with a large number of names of
witnesses. These will now be called in
the order in which they appear on the
list"
The first witness was Frank w. T.
Glover, a Chicago real estate agent. Mr..
Glover deals in property at Kensington,
a suburb adjoining the town of Pullman.
He said from an outside inspection of the
Pullman hOuses-he had never been in
side Of them-they were much more in
viting than the ones rented by him at
Kensington for SD a month. He said
there was no sewerage at kensington and
no repairing there, as there is at Pullman.
He declared the rent had not been re
duced at kensington. If | were a poor
man, said Glover, land had a family, l
should prefer very much to live in Pull
man rather than in Kensington The sur
soundings are so beautiful in Pullman and
the place so moral, ] would rather pay 81
or 50 a month more for the same accom-
modations in Pullman"
Paul Hermes, an ex-employe of the
Pullman company, now a news agent
there, testified that he thought his resi-
dence of nine rooms in Pullman was cheap
at S35 a month. He would not live in
Kensington under any circumstances, on
account of the offensive sewers. He
thought that If the Pullman employees had
let whisky and beer alone they would not
have had nearly so much distress. On
cross examination Hermes could not esti-
mate how large a proportion of the Pull
man population used liquor to excess.
L. H. johnson testified as to the com
parative value of property in Pullman,
Kensington and Roseland. He could get
houses for less money in Roseland or
KensingtOn he said, but he did not get
as good a house for the money as in Pull
man. The Pullman employees were tenn
perate for the most part and of economi-
cal habits He testified that rents had
remained stationary in the suburbs of
Pullman, and that a house which rented
for Sl7 in Pullman would cost but $l2 out
side.
William K. Mckay, a reporter for the
Chicago Mail, testified that he had been
present at many labor meetings. and had
never heard the strike leaders counsel
violence.
How were YOU impressed with these
speeches." asked Judge Worthington.
Did you think they were sincere, or
were they simply so much buncombe2"
Il thought the speakers were sincere"
Benjamin Atwell, another reporter, fol-
lowed. He had seen no real violence done
by railroad employees. He had heard, he
said, strikers counsel their companions
during the trouble at Blue Island not to
commit overt acts.
Alexander Lunggruen, a Pullman en-
ploye, was the first witness to testify at
the afternoon session. He thought he
had been treated fairly by the Pullman
company. Employees, he said, were not
afforded an opportunity To tell their
grlevances-that was the main difficulty
He returned TO work at Pullman after
the strike and was obliged to sign an
agreement to have nothing further TO do
with the American Railway Union in or
der to get his position back
John Fitzgerald, assistant fire marshal
of Chicago, read a long list of cars, tow
ers and other railroad property burned,
showing great loss to the railroads. The
oldest persons he ever saw setting fire to
cars were 10 years of age. All the rest
were mere boys. He had seen no rail-
road employees doing incendiary work.
Once railroad men helped him
10 extenguish a blaze He had
seen a man cut the fire hose, but did not
recognize him. The crowds had never
obStructed the work of the department
that he knew of. He did not know if the
incendiary boys had been instigated by
the strikers. One hundred and forty
seven cars, five switch handles, six depots
and eight towers were burned in his dis
trict from July to July S, inclusive, this
being the period of greatest violence and
incendiarism
DR. John Mclean of Pullman told of
the attitude of the company toward the
men injured while at work. His duty
was to care for all such men until they
recovered. He did not think a hospital
necessary at Pullman. He SAID the COM
pany paid the expenses at a hospital
down town of all the men hurt while in
its employ. In the case of a man whose
hand had been hurt, the witness said the
man had employed another doctor,
and thereby ignored the company
in the matter. Payment of his expenses
at the hospital had been refused by the
company on that account. DIR. Mclean
asserted that the trouble at Pullman was,
in measure, due TO the use of LIQUOR by
the employees. In 4, 900 cases of injury the
witness had never seen the company re-
fuse to pay all the expenses connected
Herewith, besides drug store bills.
amounting to 81, 700 annually.
The commission will hear Superintend-
ent Of Police Brennan tomorrow morning.
The commissioners decline to saw
whether they will summon George Nj.
Pullman or Vice President Wickes Com
missioner Wright said that in dealing
with the railroad side only the Illinois
Central and Rock Island roads would be
considered, these being the roads desig.
mated by President Cleveland
We have no power TO compel the gen.
eral managers Of other roads to attend 81
said Mr.. Wright, except as they are
able to give testimony bearing on these
two roads,
PLANS OF RELIEF.