Waterbury Democrat., 1901-05-17

l else that prompted me to meet them and talk 1t over with them before 1t Is too late. If they conclude to stand by 1 the union that is their privilege, put 1T, on the other hand, they make up their ] minds to be loyal to this company, 1 shall be glad of it. In any case l feel l that I have done my duty, so that whether the men elect to follow the 1 advice of the labor leaders or heed what I have said to them, l shall have l nothing to annoy my conscience, be- cause l made it plain to all that the union agreement would not be signed 1 at this office
 ! At Holmes, Booth x Haydens the committee were informed that they l will receive an answer tomorrow af- I ternoon.
 About 100 new members were added
 to the membership roll of Brass City
 lodge union last night and it is expect
 ed that another big batch will be mi l tiated at special meeting to be held l tonight.
 The strike situation was brought up l at the meeting of the Merchants as- 1 sociation held last evening. Beyond l discussing the matter informally noth- I ing was done, it appearing to be rath- l CT early for outsiders to take up the 1 matter.
 It is understood that lieutenant Col onel Geddes, one of Waterbury's well
 known toolmakers, has not joined the union because such q course would con- l fiict with his obligations to the state l in case things should reach such q l pass that the militia will have to be
 called out.
 Much depends, it is said, upon what
 course the Scovill Manufacturing Go will decide to take. They have q very l large number of toolmakers and ma
 cninists, and it is said that if the de- mands of the union are acceded to l there others will fall into line. It is said that the factory is well represent ed in the union.
 1 There is considerable doubt ill the minds of some of the men as to what
 action the shops they work in will l take on the demands of the union, but l at few places they have been told that the organization will not be rec ognized. At Benedict & Burnham S
 a committee waited upon Master Me
 chanic Loomis this morning and asked
 him if he could give them any infor- nation on the subject. 1t is stated
 that Mir Loomis brought the matter
 before Superintendent Frisbie but l just what passed between them is not
 known. The menswere told to remain l at their benches and wait until they
 see what way things will turn out else ! where.
 Representative Donahue of Derby
 was in town this afternoon and stat | pH rlrl ,iTr,r F,,. press. In answer to question as to whether he thought an agreement
 would be reached which would avert
 strike, he said he could not tell, but l stated very emphatically that the l shops had until ' o'clock next Monday morning to consider the matter and l that at that time the men would re- l fuse to work in any and all factories that had not signed it. He said there would be no -dallying, that the
 whole subject had been given due con sIderation by the union and that no employer had been taken at a disad-
 vantage, all having had ample time to
 examine the agreement and see if it contained anything unreasonable. MT Donahue is not an enthusiast. but to all appearances he is quite confident that he represents a just cause and
 feels confident of it's final triumph. F. E. Wilber, until recently an em-i ploye of the Clock Co, but for the past few weeks a so-called agent in search Of non-union toolmakers and machin-. 1sts at Hartford and other places, was. ln town to-day, and in the presence of
 several witnesses told a Democrat re- porter rather amusing story regard
 Ing his experiences as agent He said
 that prior to the strike at the clock shop man representing himself as one of the office employees met him on
 the street and asked him if he be- longed to the union. On being an
 swered in the negative he then in-
 quired if he thought he could do any thing toward securing non-union men to come here from other towns, adding that he could insure them steady work and good wages. Wilber said he could provided he had the funds to get
 around and meet the boys. The man
 gave him $50 and informed him that in case he showed good returns he could have as much more as he need
 ed T went to Hartford he said,
 ''and had a h-H of time on the money, but by the time it was all gone they had got onto the racket and would not let me have any more. The union got onto me up there, but after a llllle IlfeSllSallOu they QeCIueu that I was all right and if cared to remain there I would have experienced no trouble i'll being elected into the union didn't get man. Asked if he had any reason to think that the money he had received was furnished by %Ie Clock Co he said he did not know, but he was sure that he had seen the per- son who gave it to him about the of
 flee on several zoccasions.s
 The local union was kept well posted regarding the movements of Wilber, and it is said that . communication relative to his mission in the Capitol city was received here yesterday from Hartford and read at the meeting of Brass City lodge last night. At pres sent Mir Wilbur does not belong to the union, nor is 1t known whether he in- tends to ask to be admitted or not. He used to. run a milling machine at the clock factory.
 GTyr,vT Nr4