Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1907-08-30
TELEGRAPH STRIKE.
Incidents Of the Struggle Tenn
ina With Human Interest.
ALL DUE TO PETTY QUARREL
" les Angeles Union Operators Had
Not Disputed With Woman IN Oak
land. Fe.es Might Have Reigne5.
Strikcra' Touching Devotion.

Probably IN uu uticf lhc ui human
euGclyur Is there a more picturesque
and varied assortment of men than in
the ranks uf the telegraph operators.
II IS not surprising. then. that a gen
craI Srr,sr of the guild throughout the
United States should be productive of
incidents sncming with human interest
saws Chicago special dispatch TO the
New York Herald.
Men VII, had grown old in the serv-
Ice of The Western Union or had grad
uated from the office boy or check boy
staff Ia the key in the Postal rcluc-
family uarycd the signal and walked
out WIN the younger "hoys'-reiuc-
family. for when a man has worked
thir,y-hve years for one concern and is
in Il fair way tn be prnSioned OF in ms
Old age It takes something Of tug to
break the tie.
So il was with David puey. chief
onerator of the Chicago office of the
Associated Press and for twenty-five
wears an cmnloye Of the office. When
the Good NIGHT. RS signal had been
given Monday evening, Aug II, at
7:30 O'Clock 10y the operators in reply 10
General Manager stones request that
he be allowed to put up their plea to
the directors in September, Duey con-
tinucd to sit idly at his desk. TWO
hours later. as business was resuming,
Ducy approached his chief
"They are my bows" Duey said, "and
they've quit | don't belong to the
union | am not an advocate of most
of their theories, hut-the boys have
gone out. and 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.
"Nhy couldn't the fellows tell buey
he wasn't expected to quitE' exclaimed
one employee, almost hrokcnly. WHY
Ducy taught them tclegraphy and maze
them what they are y
Mrs. Mary Hansen, the first woman
generator in the country and now sew
enty-tiye years old. according to thos"
well posted. refused to desert her Key
in the main office of the western
Union. For two generations with her
nimble fingers she has transmitted
messages. and strike seems TO her
the utmost folly. With Mrs. Hansen
remained Jerc Mcrpmess, Tom Bahb
Sam Ingram and G. NJ Reynolds, al
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-Seyen years, was
one of those who stuck by the com
pany in the famous strike of 1855
and with him Ingram, siXty-ive years
old, and Reynolds seventy-tWo, stuck
also. Babb long, long ago was re
garded as the SpeedieSt and most ac
curate telegrapher in the country. anc
at the height of his career he occupied
the post of chief operator. lie has al
most lost the use of his arms through
Operators cramp." Il form of palalY
sis common among the men of the
key.
Frank Crittcnden. Old and bent ant
for forty years an operator. went on
with thr strikers. TWOScOre of hiS
years have been spent in the service
of the Western Union. He stuck b,
the company when others deserted
their keys in 1870. Again in 1SS3 IN
stayed by the company as manager o
the Denver office. and it was the onI
office that did not go out. This time
although he has a large family to sup
port, although he is old and bent, hi
eyes dim and his hand must grasp tn
key very firmly to transmit the dot
and dashes, he went out with tn
"boys."
Crittenden was once receiving ST.
month. but when he went out h
was receiving $50, although divisio
chief. He wanted more money an
thought he should have it, 50 he wen
with the other "boys." If they win h
will receive 1910 month; if the
lose he probably cannot work any
where and there is nothing save teles
raphy to which he can turn his hanC
But Crittenden has company, for J. ,
Newlirk siXty-siX years old and a
operator forty-siX years, also struck.
Ramifications of the strike hav
been far reaching. There is scarcel
branch of commerce that has NJ
been affected. and apparently all b'
cause of a quarrel over the wire b'
tween the union operator in the LC
Angeles Office with the woman o.
orator in the Oakland (Cal.) office.
that petty Wire quarrel had not deve
oped, the chances are there would hay
been no refusal in Chicago to hand
nonunion business from Los Angelo
nor would there have been any occ;
sion for the resolution passed by I'll
Chicago unions officers which pc
suadcd the union men they were dom
wrong to operate their circuits. An
if this had not happened the Postal o.
orators would not have gone out, al
so on.
When the Associated Press operates
went out Monday evening, Aug.
they left the "stories" they We're ia
IHS uDl uptiN. ue illile WIS Nllltt
as usual, but at the end of their SUI
denly terminated stories they eth
put a dash and the word strike
'More" or ended with absolutely I
indication of the reason apparent
one unfamiliar with the situation.
Over the third east wire the report
the liiel regatta was coming when @
orator Cook shouted, Good night, RS
in the roomful of operators. The di
patch was left on the typewriter, wit
this as the las sentence:
"rilly X, sailed by Prince Henry (
Prussia, came next, followed by IL
More)"