Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-05
LAKE TRADE NAY Be BLOCKED
Strikers Promise to Hamper Commerce from
Buffalo to Duluth.
CARRIERS ARE GIVEN UNTIL NOON TO YIELD
Two Thousand Grain ShoVeIcrs and
Freight Handlers Feel sufficiently
strong to Force Accession
to Their Demands.

| BUFFALO, n. Y, May AT noon tomor>
row. unless the grain shovelers win their
| fight against the contractors before then all
union men employed along the docks in this
| city will quit work. That will include the
coal beavers, tallymen, stationary engineers
hremen and all other men employed in the
elevators, freight houses and other estab>
| lishments on the docks. About $500 men
will be affected by this move in addition to
| the 100 grain shovelers already out on II
| strike.
| Henry c. Barter, secretary OF the execu-
| tive board of the International 'Longshorc,
| mems association, who is in the city has
| called a meeting for Saturday and an en-
| ceavor will be made by II to bring about n
| settlement of the present trouble. Should
the effort prove a failure 1t Is possible that
all the 'longshoremen employed on the docks
| in the great lake cities may be called upon
| to quit work. Individually MIR. Barter is on.
| posed to the strike of the grain shoveers
| and upholds the grain contractors but he
cannot speak for the board. Until action Is
taken by the executive board there will be
| no move made at outside points to aid the
| strikers.
Today the situation was further compli-
Gated by the refusal of some 200 freight han
| dlers to go to work under Contractor Con-
| nors. The men say that they are not strik-
| ing out Of sympathy for the grain shovelers
| but in order to get rid of the middlemen or
J contractors and secure an advance of wages
| from 20 to 80 cents an hour So far bun
! two or three freight boats have arrived here
| but string of them is looked for beginning
| tomorrow.
An important event tonight was the un.
| seating by the United Trades and Labor
council of the delegates from the old Scoop.
| ers' union No, 81. 1t was expected that the
| delegates from the new union would be
seated but this was deferred The action of
| the council virtually makes all the men now
working for the contractors non-union men,
Vessels Wait to he UnIonded.
The work of unloading the big fleet OF
grain carriers now in port proceeded slowly
today and tonight there are between thirty
and forty boats in the harbor waiting to be
unloaded.
The action of the Lake Carriers associa-
| tion in notifying Contractor Connors that
1t would support him in his fight has given
| considerable strength to the contractors. 1t
is said tonight that the association has de-
| cided for the present to relieve the CON
tractors from paying demurrage for delays
to boats during the continuation of the
| strike
| So far the efforts of the State Board of
| Arbitration to bring about a settlement of
| the trouble have proved friutless. Meetings
were arranged for, but representatives of the
| different factions either failed to appear or
| arrived after the board had closed its ses-
| sion. 1t is the intention of the members of
| the board, however to bring about a meet
| ing of the different parties tomorrow, if at
all possible, and something may result in
| the shape of settlement.
James Carrigan of Cleveland, president of
! the Lake Carriers association, arrived in the
| city tonight and in an interview stated that
the association intended to stick by Mr.. Con-
nors and in case it should become apparent
that he is unable to fulfill his contract and
unload all the grain sent to this port the
| grain will be shipped to Cleveland, Erie and
i down the St. Lawrence by the Canadian
canal route The only effect of the strike,
| said Mr.. Carrigan, If it is continued, will be
| to destroy Buffalo's grain shipping interests.
Strikers Unfold Plans.
The hall was filled at the mass meet
| ing this afternoon and a crowd stood
about the outside. The men were orderly
| but determined. The meeting was addressed
| by John Hennessy, President p. j. Mcmahon
| of the Shoveers' union, NJ. j.. Foley,
representing the men employed in the ele-
vators, and others.
| Mr. Mcmahon announced that the time
had come when the whole plan of the move
ment could be made known.
I'VE have everything in our power" he
said. "Unless the Lake Carriers associa-
tion comes to terms by tomorrow at
noon the commerce of Buffalo and along the
lakes will be tied up. We have been work.
ing on this matter for weeks and know
what We are doing. If we want financial
help we can get all we need"
He thanked the men for the good judg
ment they had shown in keeping quiet and
orderly and cautioned them about getting
into any trouble. In front of the hall there
were about 700 Poles, members of the new
Freight and Handlers union, and speeches
were translated into Polish for them.
NJ ]. Foley announced amid loud cheers
that tomorrow at noon every man now work.
ing in an elevator would quit.
"All We want Is what Is fair" he said
"but we will stand by you men to the end.
The coal handlers who have been serving
the lake carriers vessels have already quit
work, the engineers will go out tomorrow
and the contractors will do no more work
on the docks In Buffalo"
ALBANY, N Y, May 4.-Governor Roose-
welt today received dispatch from the State
Board Of Arbitration and Mediation, now at
Buffalo, stating that it was hard at work
endeavoring to secure an amicable adjust
ment of the differences existing between the
contractors and the grain shoveers. The
governor is OF the opinion that the board
will be able to settle the difficulty.
nDhIM CunNCI CDC, nEMHNnC