The sun., 1903-12-14

80 .
although he thought that a quantity of
Sunpowder might have been set on
II doubt, however,. il gunpowder was
exploded" he said 1T is my opinion that
a wire connecting with an electric engine
was short cirouited. 1t was wet and damp
last night and the conditions were Jus.
right to cause trouble with electric wires,
Milliken Bros, civil enginee,s AT at a. -
Broadway, have the contract Tor the Acker'
Neral 4 Condit building F, D. MilMald,
the superintendent in charge of the work
on the building, was outspoken IN declaring
his belief that an attempt had been hade
by members of Sam Parks ola UNION
TO cripple the work on the building lie
didn't know of the explosion until re-
porter took him to the building, 1T IS
perfectly plain he said. that this was
an attempt on the P9rtb OF tine psTns bad
wrecked that work would have been de-
layod for at least day. There ls another
engine there, but IT cannot be USED ior
any thing else than hoisling brick. 80
the old Parks men have been trying to get
work from me, but ] refused to employ
them. / don't want them. We have had
enough trouble with them already, and this
the type will do. I wouldn't be surprised
If ne of the men turned away was respon-
sibe for this" -,
Foster Milliken was automobilng all day
and didn't hear of the explosion until re.
porters told him last night. Then he went
to hunt up Supt. Milward and ind out the
extent Of the damage
This thing has got to be stopped, ne
said. "The trouble at our building has been
acute ever since the Parks union fell out
with the Fuller Construction Company,
some weeks ago. One Saturday. after
noon about seventy-fve men who had
been at work on the new Times building,
at Forty-second street. quit work and came
around to our building; They formed
flying wedge and rushed every one OF our
men out Of the place.
aWe had about forty ironworkers and
every one of them was driven into the
street. They didn't do any more work
that afternoon, but the following Monday
we resumed operations. Since then we
have had police on guard, and with the
exception Of a scrap or two there has been
little trouble"
Capt. Handy has had policemen at the
Forty-third street building and the Taber-
nacle building every day for some time.
Yesterday he came to the conclusion that
there was a great deal more than co'nci-
denoe In the explosions in the two Duild-
STher, is nothing to show that thers vas
an explosion in the Tabernacle building,
he said, except the statements OF the people
in the neghborhood and the watchman
But the explosion in the Forty-third street
building was evidently done with criminal
in ent 1t would seem, too that 1t was
carefully planned. A policeman is stationed
in this part of Forty-third street until
3 or 1 o'clock every morning to watch a
suspected gambling house Evidently the
person who get off the explosive knew that
and did not go into the building until after
the policeman had gone.
We have done everything to protect
the en- at work in the daytime. but antici-
pated nothing of this kind. l shall take
more precautions in future. | heard on
Saturday night that the trouble among the
iron workers was practically over. The
Parks men had been beaten, was told,
and in day or two would give in and get
work wherever they could
Charles L. Eidlitz, president OF the Build
ing Trades Employers Association. had
formed no theory about the explosions.
The first he heard of them was through
SUN eporter AS to Parks's old union
he sad:
Il have it straight that at the meeting
of Local No. 2 on Friday night the members
were quietly told to give up the fight and
yet work on the best conditions they could.
There was little of the fight left any way
Pre- ident Buchanan Of the International
Association of Bridge and Structural Iron
workers, to which Parkss men belonged,
said tat he was sure that union men had
nothing tn do with the explosions.
A number Of the trustees Of the Broad
way Tabernacle we're notified Of the ex-
I,losion. and went over the building. Charles
A. Ce~en'd d Co. are putting up the structure.