River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1907-08-22
BOTH SIDES FIRM
AFTER TEN DAYS
OPERATORS AND COMPANIES ARE
EQUALLY CONFIDENT.
HAVANA CABLE MEN OUT
Small Says Fight Will Be Short and
Decisive-He Asks the Chi
cago Federation for
Funds.

y
Sunday-the tenth day of the tieup of
the commercial telegraph lines of the
country.
The unionists, after preparing to
shut off" the continent from COM
munication by cable with the rest of
the world, starting with Havana, de-
clared the tieup in the west and south
was complete.
President Sylvester ]. Small, of the
international Commercial Telegra-
| piers union, said that everything
| pointed to "a short, decisive fight
with all the honors with the strikers"
At the same time he continued his
preparations for struggle that would
| last at least two months. He adj
dressed the Chicago Federation of
Labor Sunday afternoon, making his
| first appeal for funds to the organized
| labor of the country.
The Western Union Telegraph COM
pany asserted that in the western dis
trict, comprising all the country from
the western Pennsylvania line to Salt
Lake City and from Canada to the gulf
considerably more than half the
| United States-it had gained 167 oper-
ators and lost only seven since Presi-
| dent Small issued his general strike
order.
Stone Calls for a Conference.
One interesting development was
| the action of Melville E. Stone, gen.
| eral manager of the Associated Press,
IN h. cfr
tors in the eastern circuit of the "a.
| p" for a conference in New York to
discuss differences.
This is not regarded as precisely a
peace move, for the striking operators
| of the south and west circuits, includ-
| ing Chicago, wired to their brethren
of the east protesting against their
meeting Mr.. Stone, unless all the "A.
p strikers are to be represented.
1t is feared by the strikers that the
eastern men are lukewarm as to the
strike and that Mr. Stone will en-
deavor to bring them over to return
ing to work with the others still out.
Latest Developments.
The latest important developments
Ill Inc SCTlh0 are:
Twelve operators at Havana struck,
the first 100 operators stationed at
San Francisco, Bansfield, e. c.; Gal
weston, Key West, New York city,
Halifax, Canso, Nova Scotia; Hearts
Content, Nova Scotia; Tampa and st.
Johns, Newfoundland
At Morris & Co.'s Chicago plant six
men walked out when the company
refused to sign the scale for a mini
mum wage of $50 a week Swift &
Co. and Schwarzschild & Sulzberger
have union contracts.
Women telegraphers sent a memo
rial to Miss Helen Gould, setting forth
their grievances.
1t was announced that all employers
who have not signed contracts by
Monday noon are to be declared I'M
fair and a walkout of their operators
will be ordered. Five firms in Chi
cago have refused to sign. Seven
teen have signed and ten are consid-
ering the matter.
Small Sums Up the Situation.
Summing up the situation Sunday
FT0SlQSUC Ouldu Sdlu.
THE real struggle begins on Mon
day. Monday is an unusually busy
day, and from that on until Friday the
telegraph companies will experience
their worst trouble.
"The developments so far all point
to successful termination of the
strike-successful from a union stand
point We have signed union con-
|. tracts with firms in New York, Chi
cago, Boston, Philadelphia, st. Louis,
Springfield, Kansas City, New Orleans
and other cities, who employ in the
aggregate 1900 telegraphers.
"Advices from the west show that
the tieup is complete, as it is also in
the south. OF course, we will not get
full returns until mail advices arrive,
as there are so few public wires work
ing that we have to depend upon tele-
graphic information over private
leased wires and information cleaned
through conversations of members
over wires which are unionized.
1--WE received a cablegram from Ha-
vana to-day asking for instructions.
Our reply was: Go out. Victory
sure Before business opens Monday
morning all cables out of the United
States will be silent. The Mexican
cable out of Galveston is idle
Quiet Day in New York.
New York, Aug. 19-As though by
mutual agreement the parties to the
strike of telegraphers took things
easier Sunday, and the usual claims
and counterclaims of the days devel-
opments were not made public. There
was little doing at strike headquar-
tiers and nearly all of the higher Off
cials of the Western Union and Postal
Telegraph companies spent the day
out of town. Those left in charge of
the companies offices said that bust
ness was moving smootsiy. Represen-
tatives of the strikers stated that re-
ports received were favorable from
the standpoint of the men who are
out
The special leased wire news serv-
ice was materially improved through
out the country.