Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1904-07-14
BIG MEAT FAMINE
THREATENS COUNTRY
OWING TO STRIKE

CHICAGO, July l3.-With no sign of
weakening on either side, the only ray
of hope in the butchers strike today
was the possibility that arbitration
may intervene to prevent a labor war
fraught with suffering and privation
to the strikers and heavy loss to the
packers.
Nor is the affect of the strike con
fined to the employees and packers III
the nine cities where the fight will be
centered The consuming public will
bear a large share of the burden in
higher prices for meats Reports al
ready have come from various cities
that prices of the product have been
raised. This advance, too, was said to
be but a forerunner of others if the
conflict continued long.
In addition TO the 80, 600 employees
already on strike, upwards of 10000
more are involved indirectly and most
of them probably will be made idle
before tonight. In addition to the
| slaughtering departments of all the
| plants being tied mp, the strike affects
branch industries i'll which such art
icles as butterine, soap, buttons and
combs are manufactured
The canning departments where
beans, soups, and all kinds of meat are
put up are also hard hit, the union en-
ployes having gone out in a body.
Forty thousand persons. approx
mately, find employment in the big
packing houses in Chicago, and this
number already has been reduced one
half. The effect of the strike upon the
mechanical and other departments it
is declared, will increase this army of
unemployed in Chicago before the end
of the week to nearly 80, 000
Arbitration is looked upon as the
only means to avert prolonged strike.
The strikers declare that they will be
willing to consider any reasonable pro
position submitted from the other side
The detail of police at the stock yards
has been increased in number and all
night long the officers patrolled the
strike district and the streets adjacent
to the yards in pairs There was con
siderable speculation as to whether the
packing house teamsters would go out
on sympathetic strike. George Gold
en-, business agent of the union, set all
doubts at rest at a meeting of the
Teamsters joint council by announc-
ing that the teamsters would remain
at work as long as there was work for
them to do.
With a seeming certainty of meat
famine should the strike last more
than a week, both the packers and the
strike leaders took serious view of
the situation today Each side thought.
fully considered the arbitration chan
mel of escape from the ENHANCEMENT.
Indeed, predictions were ventured that
an srmistice might be arranged with.
i'll u hours. Such optimism, however,
was received with good deal of in.
} credulity.
President Donnelly, of the Butcher
Workers Union, expressed regret that
the packers offer to arbitrate had not
been made earlier. Had it been, hC
said, the strike might have been avert
ed.
THE delay of the packers tn agree
to arbitration, he said, lis responsi
BILE for the strike. They did not make
known their position until after the
unions had declared the strike, and
then it was too late for me to do any
thing to stop the trouble. 1t will be al
expensive war, but apparently it vii
have to be fought out. We are strong
stronger, strange as it may seem
than the packers We have the whole
country to draw up for sustenance anC
, have no dividends to pay. If the pack
ing plants are idle a month it will eat
up all their dividends for two years.