Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-08-23
The TELEGRAPH STRIKE
Incidents of the Great Struggle
Are Teeming With Human
Interest
ALL DUE TO PETTY QUARREL

n Los Angeles Union Operators HAD
Not Disputed With Woman In Oak
land, Peace Might Have Reigned.
Strikers Touching Devotion.
Probably In no other line OF human
endeavor Is there a more picturesque
and varied assortment of men than In
the ranks of the telegraph operators.
1t Is not surprising then, that gem
eral strike Of the guild throughout the
United States should be productive of
incidents teeming with human interest,
says n Chicago special dispatch to the
New York Herald.
Men who had grown old in the serv-
Ice of the Western Union or had grad
uated from the Office boy or check boy
staff to the key In the Postal reluc-
family obeyed the signal and walked
out with the younger "boys'-reluc-
family. for when man has worked
thirty-five years for one concern and is
In fair way to be pensioned off In his
old age 1t takes something OF tug to
break the tie.
SO 1t was with David Duey. chief
operator of the Chicago office of the
Associated Press and for twenty-five
wears an employe Of the office. When
the Good night, RS signal had been
given Monday evening. Aug. II, at
7:3O o'clock by the operators In reply to
General Manager Stones request that
he be allowed to put up their plea to
the directors in September, Duey con-
tinued to sit idly at his desk. Two
hours later, as business was resuming,
Duey approached his chief.
"trhey are my boys" Duey said, and
they've quit l don't belong to the
union. am not an advocate of most
of their theories, but-the boys have
gone out. aud 1 suppose I'd better
Quit" And. despite the entreaties OF
his comrades and the officials Of the
Office, the aged wire chief announced
his resignation.
"Why couldn't the fellows tell Duey
he wasn't expected to quit?" exclaimed
one employee almost brokenly. why,
Duey taught them telegraphy and MADE
them what they are"
Mrs. Mary Hansen. the first woman
operator in the country and now sew
enty- five years old, according to those
we'll posted, refused to desert her key
in the main Office of the Western
Union. For two generations with ner
nimble fingers she has TRANSMITTED
messages. and strike seems to her
the utmost folly. With Mrs. Hansen
remained Jere Meremess, Tom Babb,
Sam Ingram and G. NJ. Reynolds. all
of whom turned deaf ears to the whis-
tie which summoned their colleagues
to rebellion. All are over sixty.
Tom Babb, who has been IN the
same Office for thirty-seven years, was
one of those who stuck by the COM
pany in the famous strike Of 1883,
and with him Ingram, slxty-6ve years
old, and Reynolds, seventy-two. stuck
also. Babb long, long ago was re-
garded as the speediest and most ac-
curate tcleyrapher In the country, ana
at the heign; Of his career he occupied
the post of chief operator. He has al
most lost the use of his arms through
Operators cramp," form of paraly-
sis common among the men of the
key.
Frank Crittenden, old and bent and
for forty years an operator, went out
with the strikers. Twoscore Of his
years have been spent in the service
of the Western Union. He stuck by
the company when others deserted
their keys in 1870. Again In 1883 he
stayed by the company as manager OF
the Denver Office. and 1t was the only
office that did not go ont. This time,
although he has large family to sup
port although he is old and bent, his
eyes dim and his hand must grasp the
key very firmly to transmit the dots
and dashes, he went out with the
"boys'
Crittenden was once receiving $l2O
month, but when he went out he
was receiving $50, although division
chief. He wanted more money and
thought he SHOULD have it, so he went
with the other boys" If they win he
will receive S97.75 month; If they
lose he probably cannot work any
where, and there is nothing save teleg-
raphy to which he can turn his hand.
But Crittenden has company, for j. j.
NewSirk, sixty-six years old and an
operator forty-six years, also struck.
Ramifications Of the strike have
been far reaching There is scarcely
a branch of commerce that has not
been affected, and apparently all be-
cause of quarrel over the wire be-
tween the union operator in the Los
Angeles office with the woman OPP
orator in the Oakland (Cal) office. If
that petty wire quarrel had not devel-
oped, the chances are there would have
been no refusal In Chicago to handle
nonunion business from Los Angeles,
nor would there have been any occa-
sion for the resolution passed by the
Chicago unions officers which per-
suaded the union men they were doing
wrong to operate their circuits. And
If this had not happened the Postal OPP
orators would not have gone out, and
so on.
When the Associated Press operators
went out Monday evening, Aug. II,
they left the "stories" they were tax
ing abruptly. The time was written
as usual, but at the end of their sud
denly terminated stories they either
put dash and the word Strike" or
More or ended with absolutely no
indication Of the reason apparent to