The Irish standard., 1912-04-27
ENGINEERS STRIKE
IS POSTPONED
OFFER OF MEDIATION eY GOV.
EMINENT ACCEPTED BY
UNIONS.
SITUATION IS AT A CRISIS
Walkout on Fifty Of Eastern Roads,
Affecting Thirty.four Thousand
Engineers Had Been
Called.

New York, April 23.-The tender Of
the friendly Offices of representa-.
ives of the federal government called
temporary halt to a strike of rail.
road engineers in all the territory
east of Chicago and north of the Pc.
tomac river in which it is estimated
that So per cent of the railway traffic
Of the entire country is handled.
The mediation of federal officials
came Immediately after the refusal Of
the managers of so railroads concern.
ed, to concede the engineers demands
for an Is per cent increase in wages,
when Chief Warren Stone of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
had announced, that in view OF this
refusal, a strike of engineers would
go into effect within 36 hours.
Mediation Offered.
Knowing the situation had reached
critical stage. Martin A. Knapp, pre-
siding justice of the United States
commerce court and Charles P. Neill,
United States commissioner of labor
hurried here from Washington and as
soon as the decisive break occurred
they addressed a letter to both Chief
Stone and to ]. c. Stuart, chairman
of the conference committee of rail.
road managers, declaring that grave
situation has arisen and that the sense
of duty impelled them to tender their
friendly Offices to the contending par.
ties in the hope that some means may
be found to adjust the matters in dis
pute without the calamity of gener.
al strike"
Although Chief Stone had few min.
utes before declared that his 40 asso.
ciates on the engineers committee
would proceed to their headquarters
to prepare for strike within SO
hours, the committee was so impressed
with the letter of Messrs. Knapp and
Neill that it was decided to accept the
proposal for mediation.
Chairman Stuart Of the railroad
committee received an identical let.
ter from Messrs. Knapp and Neill but
would not comment on what position
the railroads would take as to the
tender of mediation. He Immediate
ly ordered a meeting of the commit.
| tee however, to consider the proposal
The railroads affected by the strike
crisis are:
Baltimore & Ohio; Bessemer &
Lake Erie; Boston & Albany; Boston
& Maine; Buffalo. Rochester & Pitts.
burg; Buffalo & Susquehanna; Central
New England; Chicago, Indianapolis
& Louisville; Chicago, Terre Haute &
Southeastern; Chicago, Indiana &
Southern; Cincinnati, Northern; Gin
cinnati, Hamilton & Dayton; Cleve.
land, Cincinnati, Chicago & st. Louis /;
Coal & Coke; Delaware & Hudson /;
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western;
Detroit, Toledo & 1ronton; Dunkirk,
Allegheny Valley & Pittsburg; Erie;
Grand Rapids & Indiana; Hooking
Valley; Indiana Harbor Belt; Indian
apolis Union; Kanawha & Michigan;
Lake Erie and Western; Lake Erie,
Alliance & Wheeling; Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern; I4ehigh Valley
| Long Island; Maine Central: Michi.
gan Central; New York Central &
! Hudson River; New York, Chicago &
St. Louis; New York, New Haven 4
Hartford; New York, Ontario & West.
ern; New York, Philadelphia & Nor.
folk; New York, Susquehanna G. West,
ern; New Jersey & New York; Penn.
sylvania Lines east; Pennsylvania
lines west; ?ere Marquette; Pitts
burg & Lake Erie; Reading system ;
Toledo & Ohio Central; Toledo. St
Louis & Western; Vandalia lines;
Western Maryland; Wheeling & Lake
Erie; West Side Belt line; Wabash
Pittsburg terminal.
Three Lines Unaffected.
The list includes practically all but
three of the railroads in the territory
roughly described as east Of Chicago
and north of the Potomac river. The
three exceptions are the Central Rail
road of New Jersey, whose contract
with the engineers does not expire un
til June 1 and the Central Vermont
and Rutland railroads in Vermont
which have separate agreement with
the men employed SO that the result
will be their taking up the wage ques
ton directly with the men.
| It Is declared by Stone that "a LOOT
men will be affected by strike order
OF these 25,700 are members of the
Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers
and about $500 are in the Brotherhood
Of Firemen and Enginemen, who, the
engineers declare, will join the strike
The rest are non-union men who, Chic
Stone said. have Joined in the strike
vote passed by the brotherhood.
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