The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-01-20
NOP. R. R. STIkE
AS YET
Conference Of Trainmen and
Officials Today May
Avert the Tie Up.
WHAT THE ISSUES ARE
Brakemen Demand Extra Pay
for Helping Firemen-
cassats in Philadel-
phia.
WHAT The ISSUES ARE

PHIFA DELPHIA, Jan. 20, 1905.
There WI be a conference today be
tween and Master @ II. Morisey,
Of the hei.lloosi Of Railway Trainmen
and Ges' afanager NJ. n. Atterbury,
Of the nsillvania Railroad It's OBJ
ject is. possible, to avert The threat
ened on the lines. The dispute
has res a the point where the tram
men "a voted to strike unless a set
tlelneat he questions at issue can be.
made actorv 10 the board Of adjust
ment srand officers.
It IS aaerally believed that there will
be no sirike. The pretext which then
agitate trainmen used for trying to in
stitule strike is that no brakeman
should be required to help fireman. As
a matter Of fact, the brakemen have
been helping the fireman on the middle
division of the Pennsylvania Railroad
for the past thirty years and no objec-
ton was ever made to the practice until
last summer, when the equipment Of all
freight trains with air brakes made it
practicable fer the company to dispense
with one brakeman from each freight
&
train. The Interstate Commerce law
i required the company to have 50 per
cent, Of each train under the control Of
air brakes.
Except in very mountainous districts
the engineer has absolute control Of the
entire train, even when only the forward
half is equipped with air brakes. But the
general use of the air brakes on the
Pennsylvania freight trains made it pos
sibIe to do away with one brakeman on
each train and that is said 10 be the
whole trouble in a nutshell.
There is other talk that a brakeman
would catch pneumonia if he assisted the
fireman. This. according to the COM
pany. IS contradieted by the fact that the
brakemen have been doing that very
thing for the last thirty years, and no
brakeman who helped a fireman ever
thought Of taking pneumonia until last
summer, when the air brakes made it
convenient for the company to dispense
with one brakeman for each train.
The bug in the complaint Of the train
men, it is said, is contained in the last
sentence which was printed on the ballot
that was handed TO each trainman when
he voted The sentence reads: IF we
accept the companyis position that fir
ing a locomotive is part Of brake
mans duty, how can we justly refuse to
do any or all the firing
That sentence. the company says, let
the cat out Of the bag. TIE trainmen pre-
tended to be afraid that some Of these
days many of the brakemen would be
suddenly promoted to fremen with in
creased salary. The officers Of the rail- 4
road understand that there is little merit
in the contention, and intend to deal with
tile problem as best they can
They have offered to pay the forward
brakeman on each train fireman's wages
for the hour or two each day that he
might be called upon to assist the fire.
man. They have offered to let the time
actpally employed in firing go to The cred
'it Of the brakeman as fireman should
he choose TO 20 into that branch Of the
service permanently.
But the agitators say sNo, you must
not only pay the brakeman full pay as a
brakeman, but you must also add to that
fall pay the pay Of a fireman whenever
he assists fireman. The redactio ad
absurdum Of this contention is that a for
ward brakeman would get more pay than
an engineer, a fireman or conductor.
President A. ] cassatt, Of the Penn
sylvania who was in Washington yes
felday with other railroad presidents in
reference to President Roosevelts anti.
| rebate policy was back III Philadelphia
today, 50 that whatever Is done by Gen
! eral Manager Atterbury in the value Of
I an agreement with the tfainmen viii IS
done after consultation with President
Cassatt