Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-03-24
Threatened Strike of Fire men Would Probably Be
 Biggest of All
WOULD PARALYKE
 NEAR FIFTY ROADS
First Great Railroad Strike Began in 1877 When Fire
 men Quit Work

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 23.- Should the threatened railroad strike in the west become reality it would probably develop into the greatest rail road strike in America. According to the estimates of the railroad officials, nearly fifty roads, with an aggregate mileage of l50,000 miles, would become involved. More than 150,000 men would be thrown out of employment and the cost to the country would prob ably exceed $100,000,000.
 A review of the great railroad strikes of history is not without interest at this time. The first great railroad strike in the United Sates began at Martins burg, w. Va, on July l6, 1877, when the locomotive fremen went out on the Baltimore & Ohio road. Within a week the strike had spread to the Pennsyl- vania, Erie, Lake Shore, Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne X Chicago. Cincinnati & St. Louis, Vandalia, Ohio X Mississippi, c. C. c. S l., Erie & Pittsburg, Philadel. phia X Erie, Chicago X Alton, Canada X Southern and other minor lines. Num- erou's lives were lost in Martinsburg, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Philadelphia and other cities. The cost of the strike to the Pennsylvania railroad alone was not less than $5,000,000.
 | The year 1886 saw the famous Gould | strike on the Southwestern Railroad | system. In this strike the terrific con. 1 ditions of 1877 were recreated on a 1 larger scale. The strike, which was directed by the Knights of Labor, last 1 ed nearly two months. It resulted in a defeat for the men, who lost nearly 1 $l5,000,000 in wages.
 The famous Reading strike, as it i, called, began on the Philadelphia S Reading railroad on December 20, 1887
 when 5000 employees of the company were called away from their work by the Knights of Labor More than 30, 900 men became involved The strikers
 failed to gain the issue for which they
 fought, namely the recognition of the
 Knights of Labor. The cost of tn,
 struggle was estimated at $5,000,000
 Other railroad strikes of the next fiv' years were those of the Brotherhood 0
 Locomotive Engineers on the Burling
 ton system, in 1888, the New York
 Central strike of 1890, and the strike
 on the Little Toledo, Ann ArbOr
 North Michigan railroad and the Le
 high Valley railroad, both of which oc
 cured in 1893. It was in the Ann Al
 bor strike that Judge (now president
 Taft gave his famous decision order
 ing Chief Arthur of the Brotherhoo
 of Locomotive Engineers to promulgat an order that the bylaws of the brott
 erhoOd requiring members to refuse t
 handle cars of a boycotted nonunio
 line was not in force. The Taft dec
 sion on this occasion marked an era i
 the history of labor agitation.
 The year 1894 brought the great es railroad strike the country has eve D known. The strike was begun by tn employees of the Pullman ear work
 on June 24. A few weeks later tin I American Railway union ordered f sympathetic strike by the railroad en ;. ployees throughout the west. Tn r struggle caused much rioting in Chic; $ go, in California and other places. Pre- Q ident Cleveland ordered out the Unite f States troops to suppress the disorde
 In the end the strikers were disastrou f ly defeated. Three months after il 70 strike was inauguraed the Pullman eu - plOyes returned to work at their ol e wages. President Debs and other ot fcials of the American Railway uniC f were imprisoned for contempt of cou'
 n failing to obey an injunction r straining them from interference vii ~ the running of mail trains. The tot! f cost of the struggle was estimated s $l00,O00, ,000.