Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-12-12
QUIT THEIR KEYS.
Santa Fe Railway Operators Obey an
Order to Go Out on SYM
pathy Strike.

Chicago, Dec 1O.-Betwcen $500 and
5000 telegraph operators on the Atchi-
son, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, COW
ering the territory from Chicago to
San Francisco, left their desks Satur
| day afternoon and walked out on
! strike. According to the men, advices
from points along the 5000 miles of
track in the system indicat ted that the
! freight traffic was practically tied up
and that passenger trains were rum
ming slowly, with no further destina-
ton than the next division terminal.
Railroad officials, however, denied these
| tales and averred that not more than
| 600 operators had struck. The order
that precipitated the walk-out was
sent from headquarters in ST. Louis
by M. M. Dolphin, president of the
order of Railway photographers. He esti-
mated that 81 per cent. of the telegraph
operators on the road had obeyed his
order.
When the order was given the men
| turned their 81 gnals at the various sta
tions along the line so that the red
| lights would show. This being the sig
nal for trains to stop, most of them
were tied up for time until dummies
could be dispatched to turn the signals
and permit the trains to run on sched-
ule time.
The strike is purely sympathetic
and has been called to support the de-
mands of the 800 operators who since
Thursday have been out on strike on
| C,,1f 49, i
division of the Atchison, Topeka e.
Santa Fe railroad The dispute there
has been regarding wages and rules
and the strike was called following re-
fusal of the railway officials to arbi-
trate. The points at issue were not in
themselves considered of the highest
| Importance, but the great cause of COM
plant was based upon the corporations
refusal to permit the dispute to be set
! tied by arbitration. The total amount
of the salary in dispute Oh the Calves
ton branch did not aggregate more
than $195 month nor were the rules
at issue of vital Importance.
Dispatches from divisional points
along the line of the Santa Fe rail
way indicate tnst the great system is
| badly crippled by the strike of the
telegraphers, trains being late and
in some instances "lost." All passen-
ger trains are moving, however, and
many freight trains are struggling
along as best they can. Passenger
traffic, Topeka reports, has been
greatly reduced. While admitting
| some embarrassment, the officials of
the road in Chicago and other cities
declare that the strike is broken; that
before the week is over operators will
have been provided for all of the va
cant positions and the train service
will again be on a normal basis. The
officers of the Order of Railway Teleg-
raphers take hopeful view of the
situation, President Dolphin declar-
ing at Galveston that the strike is far
more effective than the railway men
are willing to admit.
Topeka, Kan, Dec. 1O.-The officials
of the Santa Fe road take a decidedly
hopeful view of the telegraphers'
strike situation. They all say the
backbone of the strike is practically
broken already, and that the affairs
of the road will be in their normal
condition inside of two weeks The
officers felt justified, in view of the
alleged improvement in conditions, in
resembling the order closing the shops.
Strikers representatives say that
practically all the telegraphers on the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe proper
are still out. A few men returned to
work Sunday morning under the i'm
|
called off, and were later on induced
TO join the strikers. Later in the
day they were all out to a man west
of Emporia. Not man will return to
work unless their grievances are set
tied in the fullest possible manner.
Some of them have already other
prospects offered them on other roads,
and will accept them if the Santa Fe
management persists in it's present
course.
Kansas City, Mo-, Dec. 1O-The Times
says: Within the next 4S hours the
walk-out of the Santa Fe operators
may widen into a general strike and
the members of the Order of Railway
photographers be joined by those of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
the Order OF Hallway Conductors, the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
and the Brotherhood of Railway Train
men. Such is the danger that tele-
graphers say now threatens the great
passenger and freight business of the
Santa Fe from Chicago to the Pacific
coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
Death of Mrs. Mclean.
Washington, Dec. 1O.-Mrs Mary L.
Mclean, the mother of John r. Nc
Lean, of the Cincinnati Enquirer, died
here at her residence at 1870 O'Clock
Sunday morning of acute heart affec-
ton. She had been i'll since Friday
last and from the first attack her life
was despaired of. At the bedside of
Mrs. Mclean when the end came
| were her daughters, Mrs. Dewey and