Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-05-01
1000 MEN QUIT
WORK TODAY IN
ESSEX COUNTY
'It's a Holiday" Is Reason
They Give for Walking
Out.
ACTION, HOWEVER, MAY BE
FIRST MOVE IN BIG STRIKE
Secret Meetings Held in .Pater-
son and Suburban
Towns.

HdDoA cAe ShARtoycu W Soa1i ~ W.
in Essex county. numbering almost
1000. quit work today. giving as their
reason that 1t was an important holi-
day. This action was decided upon
at a meeting held last night at "a
Drift street
There will be another meeting to-
night at which IT will be definitely de-
cided whether the men win remain on
strike or not. It is said that the
walkout today was simply to deter
mine the attitude OF the contractors
on the laborers' demands for an
eight-hour day and an increase in
pay
General President Felix D'Alessan-
dro presided at the meeting last
night. The organization which he
represents is known as the General
Laborers International Union of
North America. and is said to have
large membership in the northern
part of the State.
One of the chief sufferers from a
strike of this sort would be the Pub
diary companies, which employ thou-
sands Of laborers in all parts Of the
State.
At the local offices of the Public
Service today it was said that none
of the laborers In the electrical d.
vision had quit work. In the rail-
road division none of the local men
quit, it was said. but gang of four
teen working in Orange stopped work
when a delegate approached The
men were transferred to Newark
where they again resumed work. In
the gas division sixty men employed
at Montgomery and High streets, this
city, reported for work as usual this
morning but afterwards quit At one
end of Sandford street, in East Or
ange, twenty-five out Of thirty mer
were working, and at the other END
Of the same street sixteen out o.
twenty-six were on the job.
Secret Meetings.
The meetings last night in Paterson
were private. and none of those pres.
ent would reveal what had gone on
From the drift of the mems talk
however, it was CLEANED that ths
same action had been taken there as
in this city.
Nutley "clean up day" was post
roned tooay on account of the strike
Chief of Police Sutcliffe notified the
strikers that there was to be no DEM
onstration and special precautions are
being taken by the police to guard
:, ,o;,.e+ oxxy o,thraaIr on tho mart nj
the strikers.
Mr.. D'Alessandro stated emphatic
ally that, should strike be declared
every man will be under strict orders
to refrain from any manner of dem
onstration that could be construed as
violence or a violation of any law.
Notice was served on the Public
Service Corporation some time age
that if the demands were not met by
May / there would be genera
strike.
William Stillwell, of 12S Valley road
West Orange, was the first victim o1
the striking laborers in the Oranges
today He was cut on the face by
four men who attacked him while ht
was directing the work of seven la.
borers on the Llewellyn Park estate
of Mrs. HI. H. Moulton.
The men first demanded that ths
force stop their task of putting the
grounds in shape. and as they are
getting twenty-five cents an hour fol
eight hours, the terms named by the
strikers, he declined to give the or
der. The men fell upon him, slashed
his face and then scampered off
Stillwell hurried to the police station
and reported the incident No trace
of the mans assailants were found.
A squad of police were at the Edi-
son plant today, but no disorder oc-
Cured and the men all showed ur
for work.
In Millburn and Springfield town
ships 200 went out. More than 10t
are still at work in Millburn, but il
is thought they will join the Others
before the week is out. Among the
strikers are men who were working
on Millburn's new town hall.
In Springfield two deputy sherins
We're sent to the place today from
Elizabeth. Threats against some mer
who did not quit are said to have
been made