The San Francisco call., 1903-12-07
EATING HOUSES
CLOSE TO-DAY
Restaurant Men Will
Not Yield to Wait
ers' Demands.
Chairman Johnson Says Mat
ter Has Gone Beyond
Arbitration.

The various eating-houses through
out the city that belong to the Res
taurant-Keepers' Association did not
close last night, as it was ex-
pected they would, but when the hun
CRY man tries to secure his breakfast
in one of them this morning, he will
be forced to turn away without appeas-
ing his appetite or else beg a hand
out" from some kind housewife. for the
association decided yesterday after
noon that they would not open their
dining-rooms this morning.
Just how many OF the eating houses
will close is not known, but it can
safely be said that more than 100, and
possibly twice that number, will obey
the order of the association When
the restaurants do open up they Gill
do so as "open houses, or in other
words they will employ union or non
union help, as they see fit.
The restaurant men held a secret
session yesterday afternoon, which
lasted for two hours, and wheE it came
to an end Chairman Johnson said the
members had agreed not to open this
morning. This will include the large
French restaurants, as they all belong
to the association, with the exception
of three, and the proprietors of these
places have agreed to take the same
stand as the association.
FIGHT TO A FINISH.
The cooks and walters were all re-
tieent regarding the approaching
strike. At the headquarters of each
union silence prevailed. and the heads
of the two unions stated that they
would simply wait till some time in
the near future before doing anything
to adjust the difficulty.
Chairman Johnson of the Restaurant
keepers Association said last night that
the restaurant men intended to fight
the union to a finish now that the
agreement was broken. They have
broken faith" said Johnson, and they
will have to stand the consequences.
We have done all in our power to set
tie the difficulty, but without result, so
the matter will have to take its course.
Il do not know when we will open up
for business again, but we will prob
ably decide that at a meeting which
will be held this afternoon. | tried to
communicate with Mayor Schmitz
when the trouble first arose last Fri
day, but was not successful.
MAYOR IS HELPLESS.
He rang me UP on Saturday and
asked me about the situation and 1
told him how matters stood. l also
added that it was too late then to do
anything in the matter, as the agree
ment had been broken when the crew OF
an Eddy-street restaurant had been
called out. He was to act as the ar
batrator, but he can do nothing now,
and the battle will have to be fought
out between the cooks and walters and
the association"
Many of the small restaurants
will not close. The proprietors of the
various italian restaurants in the
downtown districts all attended the
meeting and, while they are not mem
bers of the association, still they all
agreed to close their places of business.
1t is hard to say just how many res
taurants will close their doors. as not
one-half of the owners belong to the
association. Nevertheless, their SYM
pathies are with the association, and in
all probability many of them will not
open for business this morning.