The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-07-22

ns,w..n $50 aud l.ooo conductors anu
,r,,nuen IL the Grand Trunk railway
.,.,em including about 80 einploses oi
m, Central Vermont rad. have been "n
.,,,l, .inoe Monday night. and freight
"a. an al the Grand Trunk line. is
,,,r,,o.Ily Al slandsiill. Passenger
.,hedules have been maintained ~''n
NOR, OF les regularity and fAii'"aa
Official. prciic, ,ha, the backbone Of '"s
.,,,L. will be broken within a day OF
two In, both sides Of the controversy
autsar 10 he determined in their rh"'"
"a win and at present there Is P'"'i"N'
Of prolonged struggle.
ob.ying an automatic order the con
,n.,o,. and trainmen quit work at so
Monday evening. On Sunday when ~.
members Of the strike committee 'e''
railroad headquarters at Montreal T. o'
each man carried a sealed envelope 10 oe
Opened a, the appointed hour unless ?
telegram had been previously reoe''ed
which upon comparison with copy en-
closed in the envelope stated otherwise
Aside from a large territory in Canada
the strike affects lt5 miles OF the erand
Trunks main line in New England. eA'
tending from Portland through Maine
and the northeastern corner oi vermont
to the Quebec boundary. aud 80 miles
of Central Vermont track in Vermont
Massachusetts and Connecticut Inc
latter includes the New London North'
.rn division Of which Brattleboro Is the
northern terminus, and the West ri'er
division between Brattleboro and South
Londonderry.
The strike is the result OF dispute be
,w.en the railroad officials and its EN-
ployes in regard to wages The con
ductors and trainmen demand the eastern
standard of wages which is in effect on
the large railroad systems in tins part
Of the country. The officials say that u
is utterly impossible to meet this demand
and at Sundays conference. according 70
n statement from headquarters, ohereu
an increase Of approximately Is per cent
with a further promise that the men
should receive the same standard as 'he
Canadian Pacific as soon as the 'ranu
Trunk is in a position to participate y"
tho higher rates obtaining on traffic IN
the northwest.
Not a freight train stirred on any OF
the Grand Trunk or Central Vermont
lines in New England Tuesday and pas
senger service was crippled to con-
siderable extent. especially on the New
London Northern division. The railroad
shops at St. Albans where $50 men are
employed closed that afternoon and the
employees are reported to have adopted
resolution condemning the action OF
the trainmen. On Wednesday there was
resumption OF complete passenger
schedules on most of the lines and few
freight trains were moved at isolated
points with the aid of strike-breakers'
There was slight outbreak by strike
sympathizers at Island Pond Tuesday
night and Wednesday morning the rail-
road officials made a request OF Governor
Prouty for protection. The governor re-
sponded to the call by going at once to
Island Pond and taking with him nearly
half a hundred armed deputies. lnvestl'
cation showed that a crowd OF young
people, most of whom were relatives or
friends of the strikers, who make up the
larger part of the population of the town,
had thrown Jumps Of coal, decayed eggs
and other missiles at train-load OF
strike.breakers, had broken car windows
and done other damage. 1t was also
reported that switches mad been spiked
and packing removed. The strikers them
selves disclaimed all knowledge of the
trouble and declared that they were as
anxious as the railroad officials that peace
be maintained. One arrest was made.
In a statement Wednesday evening
Governor Prouty said: Conditions are
not nearly as bad as | had anticipated,
and 1 do not look for any further trouble
in Island Pond or at any other point IN
Vermont. If, however, any trouble
should develop, l shall be ready to 40
nv part to straighten matters out, and
if the necessity should arise the militia
will be called upon, but l do not antlcl-
nate that such measures will be neces'
sary."
While BrattIeboro by reason OF Its
Boston & Maine connections IS not
wholly at the mercy of the Central Yer
mont tie-up its effect is being felt to a
considerable extent, particularly by those
dependent upon the freight service, and
the situation will become still more acute
with the continuance of existing con-
ditions. No local freight has been re-
ceived over the Central Vermont lines
since Monday, and as all Boston & Maine
freight for this town is handled by the
Central Vermont it has been impossible
to ship anything from this point. A
small amount of perishable freight in
Boston Maine cars was unloaded
Yesterday afternoon in the rear OF the
town hall, but no concerted effort was
made to handle any great amount OF the
freight that has accumulated here.
Through freight and passenger trans
over the Boston & Maine have run as