The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-10-29
G. h. Brown Tells
How the Trust
Did Him.
AIRING OF STRIKE
SETTLEMENT
A Ten Thousand Dollar Damage
Suit vs.. DAWSON ct al. Heard
by Estee Yesterday.

The Master Plumbers Association is
bearing the brunt of a fierce attack In
the Federal Court, in the suit for $l0,-
600 damages by C. H. Brown VS.. T. F.
Dawson, the trial of which was begun
before Judge Estee yesterday.
There are a dozen defendants involv-
ing all the officers and a good many
members OF both the Master Plumbers
Association and the Journeymen's
Union. The suit, as win be remember
ed, is the outcome OF the settlement
of the plumbers strike a few months
ago, whereby Brown, the plaintiff in
this action, was shut out Of business,
through an agreement by which the
journeymen promised to work only for
members of the Master Plumbers Asso-
citation. Brown was not a member OF
that exclusive association, and though
he had been paying the scale demand
ed by the strikers, six dollars a day,
and they agreed to return to work for
$3.50 day, yet by the terms of this
agreement his men were compelled to
quit unless he Joined the association.
This he refused to do, and his men
walked out.
The agreement was variously referred
to yesterday as Conspiracy" "un-
lawful compact" restriction of trade,
etc, and the methods of the plumbers
trust were opened to the light of pub
Lefty in a startling manner.
The jury was secured with some diff
a hal haa hoe
excused who stated that they were
biased against unions and like COM
binations from principle, and were pref
udiced against such organizations.
The jury as finally secured was COM
posed as follows: D. e. Whitman, A.
5. Prescott, John d. Holt, K. B. Porter.
George H. Turner, II. F. Davidson, w.
j. Hockey, j. A. Hughes, r. NJ. Dun
can, Charles Motley, Jr., H. Klemme,
Stanley Stevenson.
The trial of the case began in earn
est at the afternoon session, WHICH was
opened at 1870 o'clock.
T. f. Dawson, president of the Mas
ter Plumbers Association, was put on
the stand in behalf of the plaintiff.
There was considerable sparring be-
tween the attorneys as to the questions
asked, and the Interruptions made the
progress of the hearing exceedingly
slow. Mr.. Dawson was asked to pro-
duce the agreement, and any record of
the meetings of the association. The
witness denied having any books of the
kind and said they had not been in his
possession when the subpoena was
served upon him.
James Mott, Jr., the secretary of the
same organization. was then put on the
stand and brought along the book of
the association showing the minutes of
the meetings. Mr.. Fitch attempted to J
prove that the entries in this book had
been made after the commencement of y
the suit, but his questions in that re-
spect were ruled out. Witness denied
having the agreement or that it had
ever been in his possession.
Witness said he had made the entries
i'll the book whenever he had the time. |
]. NJ. WEIGH, statistician of the Jour !
neyman's Union, said he had no records
of any kind, and therefore could not
comply with the order TO bring them into
court.
w f. Fleming then went on the stand
and testified that he had served the court
order to produce the agreement upon i
Dawson, WEIGH. O'Donnell and Mott.
Dawson had told him that the agreement
had been destroyed, and Mott said that d
Dawson had it. !
The plaintiff then went on the stand
and shed some light on the plumbers /
trust. He said he had seen a copy of the !
agreement, and related what was in it.
to the best of his knowledge, telling the
facts as related before Mr. Thompson
objected to the testimony on the ground
that it had not been shown that the con-
tract was destroyed or out of the iuris-
diction of the court, but Judge Estee al ]
lowed the questions in this connection,