Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-03-07

OOiuuSu NuplU IIduSll COs CoutlohiAiS the subway and the Manhattan ele. vated railways, went on strike at 4 o'clock this morning and for the first time Manhattan Island is struggling with a labor disturbance affecting practically every citizen and extend ing in its effects to the remotest sec ton of the five boroughs. The organi- Zation of the men was perfect and for the first few hours after the word had been passed practically not a wheel turned on the great system. But the company. too, was prepared and d steamship loadsof strike breakers, who had been held in the harbor for sev. eral days, were rushed to the lines and by the time the first ripples of the human flood which daily pours down the length of Manhattan Island had started. an irregular service was in op- eration in the subway. It was bettered little by little as the morning wore on until by the great rush hour the num- her of trains in operation had been iE- creased sufficiently to care for DOT tion of the traffic. The service was lr- regular and no attempt was made to run on schedule either as to time or speed, but nevertheless it carried thou sands and in a measure helped to re- lieve the enormous tax on the surface lines. Apparently the compaly's greatest effort was directed toward maintaining the subway. The elevat- ed lines were to a certain extent left to shift for themselves and the service there was very poor.
 Up to noon no serious disturbance had occurred. One or two minor col lisions between strikers and strike breakers. and an occasional personal eltercntion between the old employees and tha new men was the sum total of disorder.
 Each train in the underpround car. ried three and sometimes four men in the mOtormen's box and on the rear platform of each was a policeman. In every station two policemen patroiled the platform, while at the big express stations small squads of police were stationed. Plain clothes men. too. were distributed about the system at what the authorities consider as dan gerons points. Tn this respect the strike is almost uninue. Tho strikers are annarently rnlving on Dersuasion and have won over large number of the new men.
 To-day's strike was the outcrowth or agitatio'1s and negoti"tions which began simultaneously with the onen. inr of the naY suhway last fall. Even before operation of the Ahi~ tuhe was begun protest was made bv the mo. tormen of the elevated lines when it was a'nnonncad that tho men who were 10 operate the mechanism of th.. suh. way trains would he maid only S3 for a day nf ton hours. Tho dispute arls- ing therefrom was settled bv com. promise between the men and thoir emnlov"rs. hut threats of Othnr trouble from varinnS carses have followed at frennent Intervals since that time. Hardly month hos passed in which some contention between the Inter- hororoh comnanv and it's cmnloves has not demanded freuuent conferences. between the union leaders and Gen. eral Manager Hedlny and Vice Prcsi- dent Bryan of the company. and on several occasions thcv became so se- rious that Aucrst Belmont. president of tha InterborOugh company, was called in. Up to two weeks ago. how. ever settlement was effected in ev. cry instance. apparently. to the satis. faction of both the company and the men. At that time when an effort was begun by the union to have re. npwed an agreement which was to ex. pire March 1. the real trouble which resulted in the crisis to-day began. The employees declare that the Inter. borough officials at that time agreed upon certain schedule to replace tha day. When Wednesday came. how. ever. the Irnion .Of1icials dncIare that the promise of tlra officials of the com. ranv was violated: that the new schedria was not acrapted. and that General Manaoer Hadlev declined to give any sotisFaction to tlr, committee of the union which called uDcsn him They say. also. that when an effort was made to reach PreSidont Reimont fn connection with the aTIe~ed failure 10 substitute tIsn new schedule. it was for-,d that Nr Belmont was ont of ths city to rpmain inda6nitelv and that h. could not he reached. Even in the faca cf all this tho union officials de riared as late as yesterday that ther' was little dap~er of extreme maasure, being tats',. The employees balievod II, to ves'e-'av that strike rri~ht hs averfed if they conld reach Nr Rel mont. who is n-eSident of the National Civic Fedoration.
 During the aarlv morning rush dowI town for the offices the operation o trains in the subway was almost fl not enual to the denand. This wa, due fo the fact that -ranv thorsand os persons who corr ~,iv travelled hy the subway made Do attempt to do S. to-day. About one-fifth as many train as usual were run and they were op erated by non-union men generally un der the instruction of a skilled em plove such as starter. yard master O train dispatcher.
 No attempt was made either to seI CT to collect tickets. and the Dubli enjoyed free rides In some station where traffic was the heaviest ther was considerable congestion. but thi was generally relieved promptly b, the crowd leaving the stations and re sorting to the surface cars. The late were badly crowded. but with the ait e the subway trains managed to ge the working people to the stores an, off~es. though frequently delayed.
 That the public was amply warne, snd did not depend upon the subwa. vas shown by the fact that in the rusl hours some of the up town platform in the subway were practically de