The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-24

tion, and these, il Is said, considered that
their claims were not pressed emphatically
enough by the other body.
When the Brotherhood OF Locomotive
Flremen and ~Enginemen presented the
case to the management Mr.. Hannahan
and his associates were told shat the COM
pany felt itself bound by the agreement
with the Brotherhood OF Locomotive Engi-
neers. IL the latter organization, il was
ADDED, would revoke h pertinent clause
IN ITS agreement with the company the
management would be only too happy to
deal directly with the enginemen enrolled
under the H%annahan banner This the
engineers did not find them
selves called upon to do, and since the
Mammalian organization had no way to
Iorce its rival it was obliged either to re-
nnquish its position or compel the company
to break its agreement with the Brother
hood of Locomotive Engineers.
1t was by way Of putting into practice
the latter alternative, it was said yester-
day, that Mr.. Hannahan telegraphed his
ultimatum 10 President Hartman on Satur-
day. In this ultimatum the grand master
raised no question Of wages but simply
expatiated upon the grievance that -the
company was forcing his men to withdraw
from their organization and Join the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in
order to have their grievances adjusted
Eighty-ive per cent. of the switch engine
drivers. Mr.. Hannahan pointed out, and a
considerable number Of other engineers
are members OF his organization and the
company had got to deal with them di-
rectly or lose their services.
Inst w haf noua 10 -. AZ. u.-g..-
has made to the Hannahan ultimatum
was not to be learned yesterday, Mr.. Harri-
man being confined to his room at his home
in Arden by a slight illness. A prominent
officer Of the road, however, said hat very
probably Mr.. Hartman simply refer red
the Grand Master to Thornwell Fay at
Houston. Mr.. Fay is vice-president of
many OF the lines affected and president Of
the Others and has had complete charge of
the negotiations.
"Of COURSE this officer added, mir.
Hartman may not have been able TO re-
strain a tendency to sarcasm-a tendency
for which no one could blame him under
the circumstances But whatever the
wording of his reply, he Is quite certain to
be guided 10y the advices from Mr.. Fay.
at is quite a remarkable condition for a
corporation 10 lind itself in. II the request
of the Hannahan organization is granted
there is at once a breach of the agreement
with the other and a strong probability
of a strike by It on that account, a strike
which would be very we'll justified from
their standpoint. In other words. il We
lose the services Of the hremen and sw witch
engine drivers we keep the bulk Of our
engineers and practically all the expe-
rienced ones. And il We keep our iiremen
and sw itch engine drivers we lose the ex-
perienced engineers. IL looks like a case OF
be damned il you do Inc be damned IL
you don't"
Very likely. this officer added, IL Mr..
Fay could not patch up the trouble be-
tween the rival organizations he would
stick to the agreement with the engineers.
There wasn't much doubt, he said. that
the engineers could keep the trains moving
pretty well, though there might he trouble
in the yards in a few places. The manage
ment offered to decide the issue between
the two organizations and the engineers
agreed TO stand by the decision, but the
iremen refused 10 accept the company as
arbiter.
The lines affected are controlled 10y the
Southern Pacific company but are not
operated in entire conjunction with the
Southern Pacific Railroad proper. They
are the Houston and Texas Cent? al, the
Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio.
Morgan's Louisiana and Texas road. the
Louisiana Western. the Texas and Mexi-
can. the Gulf. Western Texas and Pacific.
the Houston. East and West Texas and the
Houston and Shreveport. The lines COM
prise about 1900 miles OF road. The num-
Der of employees in tho Hannahan organi-
Zation is about 1000.