Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-04-15
Trolley Affairs The All Absorb
 ing Topic To-Day.
UNION TO MEET TOMORROW.

An Early Morning Session Will Deter
 mine Whether There Will Be
 Strike or Not-Local Strikers Ask a
 Few Questions of the Alliances-It
 Also Relates a Few Other Newsy
 and Timely Things.
 Bridgeport, April 15.-There is l likelihood of a trolley strike in this city to-morrow. It is the absorbing toplc to-day. There will be a meeting of the trolleymen's union at o'clock to-mor- row morning for the consideration of the situation. The action of the Con necticut Railway and Lighting Go in Importing so many men here to work on the trolley has aroused the old men and they now believe that the company does not intend to grant them their re- quests and that the postponement or the settlement by the company has been done only to give the managers time to get sufficient help to man the car in case of a strike. There is a feeling of dfscontent apparent among the men to-day and many or them feel more than injured because they believe the trolley company never meant to be sincere, but was holding them off for purposes of their own. They assert now that the request Tor delay by the company was to prepare to. send in men who would be ready to lake their places should they decide to strike. At the meeting last evening or fhe Bridgeport Business Mems associa- ton no action was LaKen to prevent the strike, although such action was expected.
 The attention of sympathizers with the local strike and all members of or ganized labor is now directed on Bridgeport where it will be known
 probably this evening whether or not there will be a trolley strike there. This afternoon Manager Sewell went to Bridgeport with the answer of the board of directors to the mems de- mands. Tomorrow morning, accord ing to program, the men should hold a meeting to consider this answer but Rs Manager Sewell will place the answer in the mems hands this even ing, it is supposed the meeting will be held late tonight and the result will be known
 Colonel Burpee said again this morn lllS stlla1L luGI0 WILL Uc 1lO SITJkS, DuJ uC added ssif the men are reasonabIe' y He admitted that he knew what the company's answer was but declined to make it known. He was informed of the information contained in the Bridgeport papers on the matter and the number of new men, about 100, they say has been brought to town by the company and he replied that he did
 not believe there were that many He could not explain, he said, because it was in his province as counsel for the company, why local men were not en-
 gagged, as appeared to have been the custom, if not the rule, of the com
 pany.
 Speaking on this the Bridgeport
 Standard says:
 There was a conference early this
 morning of number of local trolley
 men and it is agreed that the situation
 here is assuming more serious aspect
 Just at the time when it appeared
 as if the officials and the men would
 come to an amicable settlement the bringing in here of strangers to sbreak in'' on the several divisions has naturally excited the suspicious ot the men.
 sThe employees argue that if the com pduy N db AOI pE0pdEluS IOF dlu 0N
 pecting trouble they would give the preference to Bridgeport men many o1 whom have asked for employment.
 That they prefer to go outside an6 # bring in strangers concerning whom
 little if anything is known is construed
 by the men as an indication that the A company prefer to be equipped wifl strangers rather than Bridgeport mel feeling, no doubt, that outsiders would I be less inclined to sympathize with tn,
 local men in event of a strike being de
 clared
 The situation may be said to bt
 more critical to-day than at any tim,
 since the negotiations between the of
 hcers and the men begun''
 The strikers executive committee is # sued the following statement this af
 ternoon:
 This is our ninety-ffth day out o1
 strike, and we have a grist of interest Ing news to give out to the public. # There is more work to be done b those local merchants who have hel
 meetings to take action on boycottins Despite the fact that laboring men lik
 ourselves are and always have bee
 the mainstay and support and enrcl H ment of those merchants they saw f E to band themselves together, that i
 some of them did. and decided to rid
 on the cars. Thus, they said. the boy
 cotting will be broken Ip and we hay Al saved our country. Those gentleme ~foudlv proclaimed that they were nc
 unfriendly to labor. They simply too
 the action they did to show their disaI
 proval of intimidation of any kind an 10 prove that here is country wher
 men could do as they saw fit withou
 fear or favor.
 "Now, gentlemen of the alliance
 here is a chance for you to show you
 sincerity in your statement that yo # were simply handed together to cr1s put intimidation. X local paper ha published the statement that tho W. z ! terbury Clock Go hired d man and the dischareed him because they asce
 tained he had worked oD the cars an belonged to orr union. What do yo T call that? Intimidation? We shon say it was deserving of a saverer tftl L l1- -.ITs- xx