The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1910-11-09
HOLD OFF BIG STRIKE
Leaders Demand That an Agree.
ment Be Reached Wednesday.

Impoverished Conveyances of All Kinds
Pressed Into Service In New York.
Where Taxicab Drivers Have Quit
Work--Business Men Request Com
panles to Concede Union Member.
ship Point to Strikers-SeveraI Tax
icabs Badly Damaged by Having
Their Tires Slashed and Windows
Broken.
New York, Nov. 8. - The express
strike situation has been worried into
pretty uncomfortable shape by the tax
icab boys. Enough Of them went on
strike to tangle up the transporta'
ton arrangements of most OF the ho'
tells and the labor leaders are conf
dent that they will pull out still more
of these drivers.
A general strike of just about ev-
erything on wheels is not at all i'm
probable; the leaders say they can
order it and they say they will meet
for that purpose tomorrow II all
agreement does not come before that.
Their only reason for holding off un'
til then, they said today, was hope that
a conference between employers and
the men in the interim would bring
results.
Rickety Coaches Doing Service.
The effect of the strike OF some OF
the taxicab chauffeurs was to bring out
rickety old coaches that had not
Known what service was Tor years.
They were brushed up and sent to a
lot of the hotels. Even conveyances
generally used for nothing but funer'
ais had 10 do their part along Fifth
avenue.
1t was harvest for the buccaneers,
as those men with independent taXis
and not always reliable meters are
called. Lots Of them stripped off their
clocks and if you did not want to eul-
ploy them under those circumstances,
you could walk.
The reason for the taXicaD strike
does not appear TO be wholly sympa'
thetic.
The chauffeurs as a body want a
l2-hour day with an hour off for lunch;
they want a fiat daily wage of $3.50 a
day, instead of working at 2l cents an
hour as they do now; they don't want
to be docked for repairs.
The taXicabs belonging to the COM
panies whose drivers are on strike sut-
fered most from rioters.
Tires SIashed and Windows Broken.
The New York Taxicab company
sent out about 30 chauffeurs before the
arrival OF the delegates, who called
out their men. About 20 of the men
returned with their tires slashed and
windows broken. Some of them did
not return at all and their cabs had to
be towed in.
The plan of emphasizing interstate
commerce was continued today. The
Adams and Wells-Fargo wagons which
went out bore placards reading This
wagon is engaged in interstate COM
merce only" The purpose of this ap-
peared to be twofold; to combat the
suggestion that non-union drivers
were liable to arrest for not having Ii
censes and to lay foundation for pos
sible appeal to federal aid. There
were 200 applications for licenses
made yesterday. Francis V. S. Oliver,
head of the bureau, refused to grant
any of them until there is time to in
vestigate as the law demands.
The Merchants association has sent
a letter TO each of the express officials
whose companies are interested in the
strike. 1t quoted a statement made by
the mayor including this paragraph:
Negotiations Failed on One Point.
The negotiations failed on one
point only, namely, the companies
would not acquiesce in the request OF
the men that none of them should be
discharged for the reason that he had
joined the union
The associations letter continues;
Assuming this position to be that held
by the express companies, we feel
that you should understand that the
merchants OF New York, represented
by this organization, who are among
your largest patrons will have no SYM
pathy with that position,
This ass Ociatiop feels that it has a
right to protest against needless and
unreasonable attitude which prevents
the solution OF the existing difficulties,
and feels justified in demanding that
you at once recede from your position,
referred to above and guarantee to tie
men and to the public that member
.:hip in union will not act as a cause
of discrimination in unemployment"