Evening star., 1916-08-04
MEN ARE AWAITING
COMPANY ACTION
Five Thousand New York
Motormen and Conductors
Ready to Strike.
Time LIMIT is FIXED
FOR REPLY TO DEMANDS
Employers Give No Indication of
Yielding-Total of 1900, 900 Peo-
pie Affected by Conditions.

NEW YORK, August 4.-Whether the
100000 persons who daily travel on
the surface cars in the boroughs of
Manhattan and Queens are to be incon-
venienced by a strike of 5000 motor
Railways Company and the New York
and Queens County Railroad Company
will be known this afternoon or to-
night The time limit set by the lead
ers Of the street railway mems union
within which the officials of these two
companies are required to answer to
demands for recognition of the union
and increased pay expires at 3 o'clock
this afternoon.
There is no indication of any ,inten-
ton on the part of the companies to
grant the demands. officials repeatedly
had declared that they cannot do SO.
Will Hold Meeting Tonight.
Meetings of the conductors and
motormen are called tonight to vote on
the question of calling strike on the
lines Of these two companies.
1t is reported that 1000 strikebreak
ers are ready to hurry to New York
from other cities to take the places of
strikers. This plan has been used in
the past to defeat transportation
strikes.
No demands have as yet been for
mulated by employees of the elevated
or subway lines, but 1t is reported that
they will follow in due course. Labor
leaders are said to be organizing the
drivers and conductors of the 5th ave-
nue. omnibuses.
Conflicting Claims. E,
Heads of the street railways and the
union leaders made conflicting claims
during the day. Theodore P. Shounts of
the New York Railways Company as
serting that he had been notified by a
delegation of motormen and conductors
that 2.400 of the $500 employees of the
company had signified their LOYALTY
while Organizer Fitzgerald of the union
claimed that virtually all the employees
of this company and of the New York
and Queens County had been enrolled
in the union and were ready to vote a
strike If the ultimatum expiring at
o'clock this afternoon was not favor
ably answered. There was no indica-
tion from the railway heads of any
changes In their attitude Of refusing
to deal with the union. The union lead
ers today said that when the strike
vote to be taken tonight was finished
they planned to put the strike into ef-
feet. probably an hour after midnight.
Samuel Gompers. president of the
American Federation of Labor, of
which the Amalgamated Association of
Street and Electric Railway Employees
Is a member, arrived here today to take
| hand in the situation. He went into
conference with w. D. Mahon, presi-
dent of the Amalgamated Association.
Gompers Supports the Union.
Before entering the conference Mr..
Gompers. while declining to say what
action he expected to take, made it clear
that he was supporting the union.
Il hope the railroad people will have
the sufficient good sense not to compel
the boys to show their colors as they
are now prepared to do he said
There is wave Of prosperity sweep
ing over the country, and it is no more
than right that they should share in it,"
He added that he believed that the men
would win.
The delegation of the employees which
called on President Shonts, numbering
l2O, later called on the mayor and in
formed him that 2,423 of their fellow
workers had signed a paper saying that
they were not in favor of the strike.
They asked the mayor for police pro-
lection in the event Of the strike, and
this was promised.