The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-12-04
STREET RAILWAY
STRIKE SETTLED
Was a Big Victory for the Com
pany Which Adjusted the
Demands.
SETTLED THEIR OWN WAY
After Thirteen Days Of ldleness Al
Strikers, With Exception of Those
Guilty OF Violence, Will Be Ia
ken Back to Work.

Chicago, NOV. 2G.-The strige of tht
employees of the Chicago City railway
was settled at an early hour his morn
ing at Il conference between the mayor,
the aldernanic peace committee, Pres
ident Hamilton and e. r. Bliss, counsei
for the company, and the executive
board of the local union of the strikers
The basis on which the settlement
was reached is a complete victory fol
the company as far as the original de-
mands of the men are concerned.
The agreement reached will be rati-
fed at Il meeting OF the men at 6
O'Clock this morning, and it is eX-
pected that traffic on all the lines of the
company will be resumed today.
The only important concession made
by the company was an agreement tc
~reinstate all the strikers, including the
outside union who Went out in SYM
pathy with the strikers, with the eX-
ception of those who resorted to Vio-
lenca during the trouble.
The arbitration of the wage scale
Is to be according to the wages paid
outside Of Chicago, and not on the
basis of local street railways. These
are the two points that haVe been the
stumbling block to a ~peaceable adjust
ment of the strike for the past week.
The company has insisted that it pays
higher wages than any similar corpo-
ration in the country. The men We're
fearful that the arbitration on the scale
paid in other cities would decrease
their wages, and they fought stubborn
ly for their point.
Demands Of the Union.
The original demands of the unio-
We're as follows:
l.. An increase of wages amounting to
4 cents an hour for all men employed on
the electric lines. Before the strike the
men offered to accept l cent an hour.
Both sides were at all times willing to
nrbitrate the wage scale. the basis Of
arbitration being the sole point at is
sue, and on this the company wins.
2. The employment of lone but union
men. on this point the company wins.
g. That the officials of the local union
be given the right to say what men
shall be discharged, and their discharge
not to stand if it didn not meet the ap-
prevail of the MO On this point the
company wins.
4. The right by the union to regulate
the routing Of cars, it being claimed
by them that a man was compelled to
be on duty for from fifteen to twenty
hours in order to make a full days
pay. On this point the company wins.
5. Demanded by the union, after sym
pathetic strikers had been Started by
firenen, engineers, electrical workers
and teamsters, within two days after
signing contracts that all men should
be taken back and given former posi-
tons.
The agreement is that all men not
guilty of violence toward the COM
pany during the strike are to be taken
back. Others Will remain out. This is
the only advantage obtained by the
strikers.
Strike Lasted Two Weeks.
Ever since the inauguration Of thu
strike thirteen days ago the company
has been gradually gaining the upper
hand of the men. Under poliye pro-
lection traffic was opened on the Went
worth avenue branch Of the system
twenty-four hours after the strike was
declared and the service has been grad
ually increased ever since. On the
third day of the strike another trunk
line was opened for the patronage Of
the public and since that time three
other important branches have been
put in operation, making a total Of
five lines that had been operated with
%nonunion crews while the strike was
While the service on these lines has
not been at all adequate to public de-
mands, still the company has been
gradually extending the service and
had more crews than could
be used, as each car in operation had
to be guarded by a squad Of policemen,
and the city was already taxed to the
limit to afford protection to the num-
Der Of cars that had been put into
service.
White there was considerable vio-
lence displayed by sympathizers OF the
men during the. first few days of the
strike, still there was a. remarkable
dearth of disturbances when the extent
Of the struggle is taken into consid-
GRAFTON.
Numerous cars were damaged during
the riots, but the loss to the company
on this score is small.
Hundreds Of arrests were made in
the thirteen days that the trouble last
ed and a number of shots We're fired
by rioters, but not a single death oc-
Cured that can be charged to the
strike.