The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-01-04

manned silent. evidently having made
up his mind either not to treat with
tbs committee Of telegraphers or 70
hold and TO await developments. It
has never become known just what Mr..
Gould'S idea was.
At any rate the day scheduled for
trouble arrived The Omaha officials
began TO worry, for in case of a strike
the road would have been tied I'D alb
soiutely. Nothing Indicating what pol
icy MI Gould meant to pursue was
known in Omaha. The case was TO be
settled by one man who might, as time
passed, be enjoying himself in coaxing
sPeckied beauties from their haunts,
or, ne might be considering the matter
N his car Under any circumstances
he was away off in the mountains on
lonely sidetrack almost out Of the
world
At 10 o'clock in the morning the
telegraphers' committee notified the
Union Pacific officials at Omaha that
but two hours Of grace remained, and
nobody knew better than those Off
Gals that trouble was sure to come if
favorable action was not taken within
the two hours
Eleven o'clock. mountain time, ar
rived, and yet no word had come out
Of the mountain retreat. There was an
omn.ous silence on all wires of the
system, only broken by occasional sig
nails which were flashed back and forth
by the waiting telegraphers between
themselves. At 11:15 the dispatchers
began to insure the safety of all trains
by holding them at various station as
they arrived, for trains cannot move
in safety without the telegraph.
1t was nearly 11:30 when one of the
through wires opened for an instant;
there was a momentary rattle of the
instruments along the line and an ex-
perienced, steady but slow working
hand began to call Cheyenne.
The signal was promptly answered
and a telegram was received from
Omaha asking for information as to
the condition of trains. the probable
ability TO equip the telegraph Offices
with other men. etc. The telegram
came direct from the Gould car, and
the operator who sent it was George ].
Gould, who had himself cut the wire.
run il into the car, connected il, and
assumed the duties of operator.
Mr.. Gould's telegram was. as may be
imagined, answered Immediately. Ex-
element was at fever heat; officials
were nervous and the operators were
anxious, but determined. Along the
line the instruments were calling out
the time as the minutes sped. Occa-
sionally some brotherhood executive
would use first this wire and then that
one with words of encouragement and
caution. Now and then wires which
had not produced a sound for thirty
minutes would carry the message, BE
firml" unsigned
At 1850 no word indicating Mr..
Gouid's probable action had yet been
received. The Union Pacific railroad
was just ten minutes from temporari-
ly going out of business. Time, by
minutes, was being called along the
wires.
Eleven fifty; be firml' '11:51; do
not commit any foOlhardy acts" "11:52;
do not weaken and so on.
Then the Gould wire opened. George
Gould's sending was again in evidence.
Was he about to order favorable. set
tlement? Hundreds of ears along the
line eagerly listened for the words as
they came from the car up in the
mountains. 1t was only another mes
sage for Omaha, and unimportant.
Strange time, that, for ordinary tele-
graphing.
Eleven fifty-seven; it looks like a
battle the telegraphers sent along
the word.
1t was 11:57 when Jay Gould weak
ened. George Gould could hear and
read the signals on the wire. He could
tell from what he heard that trains
were sidetracked, that the operators
were not testing; and that the officials
were preparing 10 go out of business.
Perhaps the Goulds didn't like the
idea of being in a car $500 miles from
home, 1 900 miles of which distance was
covered by a railroad which could not
safely run its trains in case he refused
to favorably decide. Perhaps, if Jay
Gould had been in his Wall street Of
fee he would have done otherwise than
adopt the operators schedule, but at
the last moment, George Gould tel
egraphed. Grant operators demands"