The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-23
NEWS W OF RAILROAD WORLD

| Unless there is material change ,,,tbin inc next few weeks indications naintl 10 the fact that there will De one of the greatest upheavals in rail- road circles that this section of the Country has, experienced in a long time. There is a general spirit or unrest among the employees of the AtiaItlc Coast Line. Louisville and NashVllls' and other roads centering in Montgom- cry. ., Gao. that railroads in the East West and North have made general increase or I0 'ner cent. in the salaries paid to the employes while nothing has been done on that line in this section of the couh- try. Lo taking the initiative, and December there will be a conference in Whining ion. the headquarters of the Coast Line between the machinists' union and the C,,ast Line officials. Joe Figg. of Sa- vannah. is President of District No. 50 of the National Machinists' unlon' rms district includes the entire system or the Atlantic Coast Line and MT. Flgg has full charge of it. There will of course be committees from every local union on the Coast Line system.
 Al the Coast Line Shops in West Montgomery there are at present twen~ ty-five machiHists and they will he rep resented at the Wilmington conference by N Michael and M. c Patterson who will leave Montgomery with in- strSlctions to stand out for an increase of between 10 and i5 cents. A few days after the machinists' meeting there will be conference between rep- resentatives Of the boiler makers and blaeksmiths unions and the Coast Line officials.
 As yet no date has been set for conference between the Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers and the officials of the Coast Line, but that there will be a meeting in the near future seems certain.
 rWhlle we will demand an increase In wages" said local engineer yes terday, "yet the main thing that we will ask for is better treatment. T mean by better treatment" he con- iuued, "a decided decrease In the num- her of bosses thatsare over us at pres ent-diVision superiptendents, train matsers, train dispatchers, etc., pour in such floods of orders that we are kept in constant state of confusion"
 Nothing has been done in this direc- ton hy tho employees of the Louisville and Nashville up to date, and it Is possible that no action will be taken by them until after the r1eetings on the Atlantic Coast Line
 "The railroads more than any other class of business have profited through the general prosperity that seems to be universal throughout the United States" said an employe of the Louis vile and Nashville yesterday "and l think 1t nothing but right that the men who help the railroads make this money should have some share in the profits and generally prosperous con dition of the railroads
 '"The cost of living for the work Ing man has increased fifty per cent in the last few years while we get the same wages that we received when provisions were much cheaper than they are now"
 The Atlantic Coast Line engineers gets three and one-half cents a mile while the Louisville and Nashville en- gineers get three and one-eighth cents a mile.
 The progress of events in the next few weeks will be watched with great interest by railroad men all over this section of the country.