The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-28
RAILROAD STRIKE NOW IMMINENT Over One Hundred Employees in Spring Street Shops Dis charged Yester-
 day.
FORCE IS REDUCED TO 25
Representatives of Local Unions in Boston Last Night--Mellen Said to be Prepared for
 Strike.

AL lIlt llpSt bI lllt W MOl hillG udp yesterday the New Haven road dis charged 105 of its employees at the Spring street shops, this being the second largest cut in the number of workmen the road has made in the recent series of discharges. It leaves twenty-five men in the Spring street shops, just enough to keep the place open.
 To-day the employees of the road were to give the officials their final answer in regard to whether or not they would work on piece work in7 stead of a regular wage scale This delay was caused by the roads re- quest that the men wait until the 2Sth in order that it might more fully in- yestigate the piece work and the pres ent wage scale. The men agreed to walt until the 2Sth and the road did not put the men on piece work. Instead the road began to discharge the men in groups until the force at the Spring street shops had been re- duced from 700 or 500 to 150. Then the reduction was more gradual, but in the past three weeks the force has been est from the high water mark to twenty five, the number which is left ready to strike if 1t is necessary. At the Cedar street shops the force has not been cut and there are still fifty men working there, all of whom will go out if a strike is called
 Ten representative from the local branches of the national unions of machinists, boiermakers, pipeiitters, machinists' helpers, etc, went to Bos- ton yesterday afternoon to attend the conference held last night at Fanueil hall, held for the purpose of deciding whether or not the men will submit to the piece work scale and what means shall be adopted for resisting the scale If 1t is the only one offered by the road.
 This latter point is practically the only one to be taken up for the men have already decided not to work on piece work, and this they will inform the railroad to-day. The road is equally determined upon introducing this new system of wages and strike can be the only result.
 The shopmen all over the system, the larger part of whom are at Nor folk. Readville, Roxhurv. and Boston, will join the employees here in calling strike which in magnitude the union men say will surpass anything the New Haven system has had to con tend within a good many years The road has discharged a good many men at Rockville and Boston. but no such number as have been dismissed from the shops here since the trouble be- gan.
 The road has had several months to prepare for trouble, and is said to have been signing a large number of men during the past four weeks since the matter reached an acute stage. The union men are relying on the fact that the road in all probability will be unable to get enough efficient men to work in their shops even long enough to tide the company over un- til a strike can be settled. Employ ment bureaus in eastern cities have been opened, one of which Is In this city, but the number of men signed Is said not to be nearly so large as the number of men dismissed.
 The old steamboat Connecticut, one of the boats of the New Haven road. Is anchored off Pier No. A in New York. and II is reported that the captain of the Fall River line steamer Puritan has been ordered to come with the "Connecticut' to New Haven today. This Is said to he in the event that the present employees of the road refuse to go on the piece work wage scale. It will he remembered that at the time of the last strike by the boilermakers, hardly had the strike been declared when one of the steam CTS of the New Haven road sailed into the harbor loaded with strike break CTS and anchored off Belle dock.