The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-14
GAINS CLAIMED
 BY BOTH SIDES Employers and Operators Express Themselves Sat isfied at Develop
 ments. SERVICE NOT
 BADLY CRIPPLED Wall Street Brokers 0per- ators Will Present De- mand for Increase
 To- day.

New York, Aug. 19.-From the viewpoint of the employers of tele- graph operators, the strike situation tonight was declared to be improving hourly and the officials of both the Western Union and the Postal com panies announced themselves to be more than satisfied with the progress that had been made during the day and the early hours of the night to- ward the restoration of wire commu- nieation throughout the country. "It is now not so much a question of re- storing communication, declared one official, "as it is of re-establishing nor nal conditions" These officials were frank to admit that some surprise was 'occasioned by the action of their oper- ators in additional cities going out to- day, but declared that none of the days strikes left them with an entire ly crippled force Enough men have remained in every otfice," they said, Ito enable us to handle all ordinary traffic and to attend to the technical and administrative ends of the busi- ness" These statements on behalf of the companies were declared to be based on reports from all over the country, and were not confined to the situation in the general offices in New York
 The officials of the TelegCaphers' union, on the other hand expressed confidence and satisfaction with the progress of the strike. They pointed to the cities in which q number of op- orators of both the big companies to- day had left their keys, and predicted that their example would influence other offices in which the men have been wavering to join the ranks of the strikers.
 As far as the situation in New York is concerned but two new features de- \ veloped to-day One was a meeting of the Wall street chapel of the Commer- cial Photographers Union late this at- ternoon at which it was decided to pre- sent a demand to their employers to- morrow for a contract for a minimum X weekly wage scale of thirty dollars. The Wall street chapel had about 300 mem- bers, all men who operate brokers leas- ed wires in this and nearby cities. The proposed contract is to run for one year, but no Nine limit was set for its signature.
 The other development was an offer by M. J. Reagan. state mediator of te department of the state of New York, to lend his good offices to bring about a settlement. MT. Reagan called on rhe officials of both the big telegraph com .panies. General Supt. Brooks of the Western Union declared his company had nothing to arbitrate and Mir. Nally of the Postal made practically the same reply. Joseph F. Ahearn, president of the local union, said that he had told MT. Reagan that the operators were perfectly willing to submit their case to sincere arbitration" and would read ily appoint man to act for them If the companies would do the same. Thus far the employers, however, have given
 
 maintain the position that so far as they are concerned there is nothing to arbltrate.
 General Superintendent Brooks of the Western Union said tonight after receiving late reports from all divi- sions:
 "The Western Union is practically on normal basis tonight We have enough operators at work to man our whose system and both commercial and press matter is being dispatched with little or no delay. You can guage our situation when I say that the New York office answers to 1,500 offices di- rect and to-day and tonight not a single call from one of these offices has gone unanswered, and without delay at that We have now on duty more operators than we actually need and so far as my reports from all over the country go the same is true of other divisions"