The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04
Farley, Strike Breaker. !.
THE MAN TROLLEY COMPANIES
GALL ON WHEN IN TROUBLE.
sts M


The time table experts Of the company
are put at Farley's disposal. and q his
direction they make out schedule to ~
conditions. When the strike is broken aafd
peace once more reigns. Farley tnrns 10 I;
road over to the regular officers. dIsasI
pear. and you hear no moro Of him unit ;
there is trouble again. - &C.
And 1t Is not merely as an executive ofaceP Z
that Farley figures in the operation Of thS'
road. II there il a particularly naAty
mob to take car through during thu
war Farley becomes the motorman. m
Richmond, during the worst Of the
troubles there, he ran car through vollsys
Of bricks, rocks and bullets. He rot q
shot in the chest in that scrimmsge, but 10
was mere trife to half a dozen other
wounds he has received In former bad
engagements. a.l
And the hurts have not all been on tho X
side OF the strike breakers, either. IN thsss :
collisions. II was Farley who was IN CON. 1
mand Of the car that was mobbed IN Rlch-.
mond when the strike breakers, after firing
volley over the strikers heads, fred ono
into their ranks, wounding fourteen, two
Of whom died. - f'i4a
The plots that have been laid to kill thjs
pest to strikers would All a book. In Rich
mond alone there were three or four wei y
organized schemes to this end. bn&, tiny all
fell through.
No army Is properly equipped thst has
not an alert and adroit corps OF spies. and
Farley's labor armies are not deficient In this
respect. He is generally about a. we'll
advised Of the movements Of tho enemy
as are the strike leaders and In each
case Of conspiracy against his life he thus
far has been warned well in advance.
The pivotal point in the mystery Of how
Farley keeps his cohorts together is the fact
that they are well paid. From the moment
they are summoned they are under pay.
every man Of them. IA * Wit.
Many. In fact nearly all Of thefs. ~
regularly employed elsewhere, but WitHs
the understanding that they are at liberty
to have vacations. II trolley company
that has had a strike or two Of it's oWsl z
knows that man who asks for leave of
absence is going to help to break . strike 0ns,
another line there is not apt 10 b6 Any
serious objection raised. VI @4Es "
Besides that, in q protracted strife, the,
Farley men at the high pay, withbosrd and.
lodging, that they get, are able to lay of
comfortably II they choose until trouble
breaks out somewhere else. Strike break
ing with them is as much q business az II IL
with Farley himself.
These men, speaking generally ARE COM
posed Of two groups-men NAnf are ,psos..
fessional strike breakers. generally IFoss
hatred Of the union that is the result OF their
H. - 49,.
jobs from the failure of former strfkesthcys
have been in. who feel that they ara blanle
listed and who are anxious q gee hsrk ~
steady employment again. From tina -
named group the company which .defeessc;
strike generally gets nucleus Of resoiute
non-union men whom no cajolements can
bring back into the fold.
Although trolley railroads are his spe-
cialty, Farley can on occasion tackle strike
of cooks, teamsters, steel workers or several
other trades. He has the men to do IL with
on his waiting list.
But trolley strikes are his speciality. In
the eight years he has been in the business,
he has, among other places, dealt with the
big strikes IN Scranton; st. LOUIS, Prov
idenGs, Boston, New Haven Waterbury
Strikes and warfare, though, are really
not so much to Farey's taste as q bucolio
life. He Ia an upstate New Yorker by
birth, and his likings are all for the country.
He has beautiful home in Plattsburg and
large farm with a lot of fine horses further
back toward the Adirondacks.
Here he stays as long as the strikers
will keep quiet, but as things 90 these days
these intervals are short. There is gen.
orally something doing.
There Is one consolation, II strike break
ing means peril of life and limb at every
moment while it lasts, with sleepless nights
and wear and tear on the bodily energies
that are startling: it is a remunerative
business The men are well paid, and Far
leys own commissions in few years OF
active, hazardous life have made him
independent.
And 1t would be an interesting matter
In industrial economics to know just what
fighting strikes and preparing for threat
ened strikes cost the trolley railroad cor
porations alone in the course Of year.
It would be quite safe to say, for instance,
that 1t cost the Public Service Company
Of New Jersey at the very least SIS, 900 or
$40 600 to meet the expenses Of merely. pre-
pairing to tackle the strike which did not
come of after all And that the presence
and preparedness of Farley and his cohorts =
had much to do with preventing that par
ticular strike is not to be doubted. eds "A g
And yet the threat OF the strike te still
there, as 1t il over the anthracite coal fields,
as long as the union fails to get the one great
thing on which il insists-recog nitiOn.ss ts''