Waterbury Democrat., 1903-02-16

electric companies, controlling all the electric street car lines in eastern Mas gachusetts outside of Boston, have, through their subordinate companies, the Boston and Northern, and the Old Colony Street Railway, granted the re- quest of the employees for increased wages.
 The decision, which was announced. yesterday, affects 2,522 conductors and motormen, who are divided into six classes or grades, the average increase for all being 12.S per cent, or $154, ,66T, based on last years pay roll.
 Things are coming our way,'' said they, s'but we don't think the men in Massachusetts will accept the increase in that form. They object to being put in grades. It is one of the most objectionable features in trolley work. The men were paid from sixteen to twenty cents an hour and they strong ly object to being graded. They were opposed to it all along and we do not think that these objections will ba overcome by this increase, though if would make the wages of some of some Of them $2.25 day. In fact we know that they have passed votes against increases in this manner. graded pay roll is susceptible of mak- ing trouble at any time It gives tha company temptation to have the work done by the low grade men and of course the higher grade men object To that and then trouble results. One or two grades are bad enough. but six grades are out of the question. The men will hardly accept the increase in that way"
 Another cause of good cheer in their ranks was the great success of tbair concert last evening It was tho rnost ppslllve proof of the sympathy of the pupilc Win their cause. Hundreds whv nad tickets. seeing the crowded Sonsdltions Of the house, went away and did not ask for their money. MT aDill- worth, chairman of the national exec utlEe committee, said it was the great est demonstratiOn of public sympathy Tn a case or this kind that he has eyer seen. n cities twice the size of Wa HerDury where concerts and such en- Iertainments were given for the bana- Ht or the strikers. while the people raI- iled to them in large numbers. it was nothing in comparison to the concert given last evening. The town seemed wild with enthusiasm and eagernass 10 help the strikers.
 The situation to-day was ike wI,ot 1t has been during the past week. quiet. So far the attempts of tha cit5 azens' committee have brought about no understanding between the com pany and the men, but the Iatter fee1 sure of winning in the end, no matter how remote that may be They say that the action of the Winchester and Torrington company and that of the Massachusetts M companies in raising the employees wages must have a good, eneet upon the local situation, because Fhe latter companies are practically controlled by the same capital that controls the Connecticut Railway and Lighting company
 The reports of dynamite being found on or near the trolley tracks furnished a good deal of discussion and conyer- sation among the men. Their general opinion is -that~if dynamite was found it was found by those who were instr,1-. mental in bringing it to town or by those who had placed it near the tracks, They say that anything inc size or color of a stick of dynamite could hardly be seen on the tracks in the night time by motorman or a conductor from the platform of a car that is rushing along at the rate of not less than eight and probably twelve or fifteen miles an hour. unless he had previously known where to be on the lookout for it. They refute the general inference that the explo- sive was put on the tracks by any of their number and some of them arc Willing to wager anything reasonable that not one in a thousand men knows how to explode dynamite with safety fo himself. They say that one ernntv car has more influence in bringinp about settlement favorable to them than ton of dynamite found on fba tracks. The company would feel the effects of empty cars far sooner than 1t would the shattering to pieces If one single car by dynamite or any thing else. In word, they intimata as plainly as possible that if dynamite was found on the tracks it was mt there by the non-union men.
 Since Saturday evening the ears were hardly interfered with within the city limits. Saturday night a ear was stoned in the Brooklyn district and some windows were broken. There was slight interference in the suburhs
 This morning Constable Carmodv served papers collectively upon inc strikers, demanding them to return fo the company certain property such as badges, switch keys, punches. buttons passes and things of that kind. The men, or great many of them. said they had no property that belongs to the company except the buttons on their uniforms. Badges, such as they wore on their caps, punches and pass es, they paid for, and therefore they belong to them. Even the gilt stripes they wore on their coat sleeves denot- ing their term of service, some of them paid for
 The object of this, they say was to have the men call individually at the office so that they could be seen by the officers of the company to induce them to return to work But if such was the object. the men decided to frustrate it by voting to report at the