Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-12
The Trolley Men Have Issued Another Statement in
 Regard to Strike
THEY ARE STILL DETERMINED TO STAY OUT.
Will Not Return Work Unless Their Demands Are Complied Wth-WI Not Report At Three O'Clock To-Day Cars Sent Over the Tracks Several Times
 To-Day To Clear Away ths
 Ice and Snow

. The strike began in full force yester-
 day morning and the public began to feel the effects immediately. The hack
 drivers and owners reaped harvest
 all day. The strike could not have
 taken place on better day for the
 men or a worse one for the company.
 The indictment weather of last evening
 drove everybody home and they want
 ed to get there by the shortest route and the fastest mode of travel. The great convenience the street car service has been to the community was not felt
 until then. For years it has been rum ming without interruption excepting an occasional storm. Yesterday not car moved.
 This morning no effort was made to move the cars but early in the morning Manager Sewen Superintendent Wales and the man who takes care of the switches in Exchange place each took a car in various directions, more to keep the tracks open, it was said, than anything else. But the general public was greatly fnconvenienced. Factory employees were greatly put out, the dreadful condition of the sidewalks making walking particularly difficult this morning Everybody had to walk, or rather crawl, this morning, and the crowds of school teachers and High school pupils who take the S:25 cars at Exchange place were creeping along the sidewalks at that hour, casting anx- ious glances down West Main street.
 The fight is on principle. The com pany believes it has the best of the ar gument because it believes 1t can show that the discharged men had repeatedly violated the rules. On the other hand, the men claim that far worse things than thealleged violation havebee over looked and thatwere not the discharged men union men, were not the company anxious for the dissolution of the union, and did they not see in the present al- tercation a good chance to strike at it, there would have been no strike.
 The local trolleymen's union met at 10 o'clock this morning in Buffers and Polishers' hall on Grand street Upon taking the roll call full membership
 was found to be in attendance The grievance committee reported that up to noon today no official communica- tion had been received from Manager Sewell in reply to the communication sent to his company on Friday last
 The meeting was an enthusiastic one
 all of the men appearing to be in good natured moods, yet the sentiment was
 unanimously expressed that the men
 would stand firmly shoulder to shoul- der until the end demanded and de- sired by them should be obtained Votes of thanks were rendered unani- mously to many citizens who have taken an active interest in the strike and have aided the men in many
 ways. The session lasted until short ly after noon, when an adjournment was taken until 5 o'clock this after noon. The committee gave cut the following statement:
 "We intend to fight to the last ditch
 We understand Manager Sewell stated last night, on his return from New York, that he brought home with him a solar plexus blow to deliver to us. We'll, we are pretty we'll trained by this time to stand hard knocks, having received our full share of kicks during the past year and half, still we think Manager Sewell will have his hands full getting us to take the count. Now, to refute a few of the numer- ous statements which Manager Sewell has placed before the public. In one YICW He CldIAlS tO hdFC IIC4oChLH fly spoken to his men "as a father to his child" Should any of his men violate the rules or make mistakes of Iany kind, he would have the public to believe that in his whoIe-souled gen. erosity he could not discharge him without giving him another chance. Yet, in another interview, and almost in the same breath, Manager Sewell has no hesitancy in proclaiming to the public that an old employe like "Bilr' Barrett, who has served the company faithfully for the past eight years, is addicted to drinking to excess and was found intoxicated while in uniform by one of Manager Sewell's s'spotters.'' Is there any "fatherly'' devotion shown by publicly taking away ''son's'' rep utation by intimating that he is ha- bituaI thinker? MT Barrett does not want the public to take either MT Sew ell's or his statement as to the truth of these charges. He is willing to have the matter investigated by any honest committee and call upon hun dreds of reputable citizens who will testify that he has never been found drunk either while on or off duty. Neither has he been frequenter of saloons while on or off duty. The same applies to MT Maloney, who has served the company in a most satis- factory manner for about nine years, and to MT Kelly. who has been an eff ficient employe for about four years Why. surely Manager Sewell must be mistaken in making such charges, for his faithful man, Superintendent Wales. has admitted to the accused men that he had never known of any of them being drunk while on or off duty.
 It has been conveyed to the public that Barrett had been warned twice. previous to his discharge, that he must be careful. There must be another mistake in that, for when notified of his discharge by Mir Wales, the latter admitted that never before had he even found it necessary to say a harsh word to him.
 Manager SewelI admits that he has