New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-03
"COXEY" STRIKERS THESE
WALK RAILROAD TRACKS.
Mob asks All Trackmen 1t Meets to
Quit Work.
fzv TELEGRAPH TO THE rRrBUxE.l

Stamford Conn., May Without previous
warming ,Uen+v-fiye tracknoen employed by the
New-York New-Haven and Hartford hallrodu
Company IN the Harlem River yards went on
strike yesterday morning. The men oeniaiiueu
81 day and eight hours They were receiving
ST 80 day for ten hours work Inc twenty
Eve men started out for New-Haven with the
idea OF inducing all the other laborers elhplose"
on track and construction work between New
York and New-Haven to quit There are ABOUT
6ooo such laborers in the city of Bridgeport
alone and over 900 are employed on track I'M
movements The strikers are unorganized anu
they are nearly all Italians. Without any recos-
nized leader they set out on their "Coxey like
tramp.
As they marched along the track the men
7runed themselves with clubs ana cudeeis-
Practically all the section and track men De
tween Harlem and Rye had been induced 10
ouit bv the mob before the company olnclais
realized what was taking place AT HARRISON
g d Perkins. roadmaster OF the New
division, met the men and had a long confer
ence with them. Mr.. Perkins spent TWO hours
irving to induce them TO go back 10 work ana
.,b,oif their grievances to the company for
consideration They absolutely declined TO do
.r;s end declared they would not return to work
until their demands had been granted "hen
Mr. Perkins discharged them the army. nothing
daunted, continued its march eastward ana
-esc,ad Port Chester. where if bivouacked for
N. night This morning the men again took
I'D the march and at noon reached this city.
As soon as the roadmaster saw that the men
would not listen 20 him he decided TO keep the
other aborers away from them BY means OF
the telegraph wire he managed to keep tab on
the gang and to notify his foremen in time
10 lay their gangs off. BY this means most or
the section and construction gangs east OF Rye
were laid off temporarily before the strikers
could arrive. Sometimes the latter would board
q, train elude the roadmasters watchfulness
and swoop down upon section gang. IL Is
estimated that they have personally induced
two hundred or three hundred men to stop
work already Their march has stopped all
Nsrk in the track and construction lines wher-
et'r they have gone
rhe effect of this decentralization felt this
afternoon, when two wrecks occurred, one at
Port Chester, the other at Norwalk. The Port
Chester wreck occurred about noon. when the
strikers were in Stamford. All the section men
and track hands had either quit or had been
sent home, and only a few could be procured
TO man the train. About p. m. a more serious
wreck occurred at Norwalk, which resulted in
the injury Of six passengers and the death of
one. They had just returned from Port Chester
10 the headquarters for the wrecking gang
Much difficulty experienced in getting men
TO man the wrecker. 1t was only after consid-
cradle delay that any were procured The rail-
road officials do not connect the strikers with
the wrecks.
I'VE do not anticipate any bad results from
this senseless invasion" said Mr.. Perkins, the
road master, tonight Fully two-thirds of the
men who have quit work did out OF fear Of
the strikers, else because we laid them off
temporarily. We expect most of them will re-
port for work Monday, and enable us to work
along in the rear of the strikers" When the
strikers passed through Stamford their band
numbered about two hundred. They made no
disturbance here. The trackmen and laborers
seem to be afraid OF them, and IL looks as If
their march would cause an extended democrat
ization Of construction work on the New-York
division. The men appeared to be determined to
reach Bridgeport tonight About . O'Clock they
had reached Green's Farms