The Van Buren press., 1897-10-02
STRIKE CONTEMPLATED.
Twenty-0ne Discharged Tralnmen Ap-
peal TO the Order of Railway
Brakemen.-Clafm On.
lust Treatment.
From the Ct Louis Republic.

between some of the Gould lines in the
West and the employees of the roads.
The roads in question are the Iron
Mountain and the Missouri Pacific, and
the trouble Is over the discharge of a
number of conductors and brakemen.
The two orders are not connected in
any way, but each claims that it has a
grievance and unless some settlement is
effected it is said that the men of both
orders will go ont on strike.
About six weeks ago three of the old
est and generally considered the best
conductors on the Iron Mountain road
were summarily relieved from duty and
told that their services were no longer
required. The discharges were the
result of the work of spoilers, and the
men claim they were discharged with
out being given chance to disprove
the charges made against them. All
three of the discharged men were
members of the Order of Railway Con-
ductors, and the matter was taken up
In their various councils. The result
was that yesterday morning the General
Grievance Committee of the o. R. G..
met at the Laclede Hotel to consider the
matter of the discharges.
The General Grievance Committee is
composed of IA members of the order
Six of them were present yesterday
but IN the absence Of the others they
had power to act. The members
present yesterday were: w. c..
Turner. of Poplar Bluff, Ark. chair
man; F. W. Hartell. of st. Louis,
secretary. L. 7. Brannon. of st. Louis,
Ed Fleming, of Van Buren, Ark. w.
E. Miller. of Sedalia, and NJ. l..
Gilmer, of Little Rock. After the
cases were discussed on all sides it was
agreed that the men had been wrongly
dealt with and that they should be re-
instated. The meeting then adjourned
for the purpose of presenting the cases
to the management of the road. with
the request that the men be put back to
work. This was done and the railroad
officials were notified that the board in
full would be in session in this city on
Monday to receive the answer.
While there were no hints made to
the management of the road that a
strike would be declared if the demands
were not granted, it is evident that the
Grievance Committee is determined
that the men shall go back to work.
The answer of the railroad officials is
awaited with much anxiety, and if it is
not favorable strike may be ordered
at once.
The troubles of the Order Of Railway
Brakemen have assumed fully as serious
an aspect. 1t was caused by the recent
wholesale discharges of brakemen ON
the Missouri Pacific. The discharged
men were all freight brakemen, and
within week 81 were discharged from
the Sedalia division. 1t is claimed that
it has been customary for brakemen to
collect small sums from tramps and
others who rode on the freight trains.
In order to break this up spoilers were
put to work. The 81 discharges were
the result. The spoilers dressed them
selves as tramps and boarded the freight
trains. They claim that they were
ordered off by the brakemen. The sup
posed tramps then offered small sums
of money to be allowed to ride. These,
they claim, the brakemen accepted and
the discharges followed.
The discharged trainmen have ap-
pealed to the Order of Railway Brake
men, claiming that the discharges were
without cause. and that they were given
no opportunity to make a defense.
There are open threats of general
strike being ordered if the men are not
reinstated. Both of the orders are very
strong on the Gould lines, nearly every
conductor and brakeman being a
member, and the troubles coming up in
both organizations at the same time
look very ominous.
General Superintendent Clark of the
Missouri Pacific said yesterday that he
knew nothing of the trouble with the
brakemen, beyond what he had read in
the papers and telegram stating that
the men had been discharged. The
trouble occurred within the jurisdiction
of Division Superintendent L. d. Hop
kins, whose headquarters are al
Sedalia, and until the matter assumes a
more serious phase it will be handled
by him.