Norwich bulletin., 1916-08-05

New York, Aug. 4-Paralysis of
 surface car traffic upon Manhattan
 Island will be virtually complete be-
 fore dawn tomorrow. Approximately
 1,500 employees of the New York Rail-
 ways company, which operates more
 cars than any other company in the
 borough of Manhattan, voted unani-
 nOusly tonight to strike immediately
 for recognition of their right to or
 ganize and to enforce other demands.
 Another division of the company's YnOtOrmen and conductors who are on
 duty tonight will meet at two @. m. to
 take a strike vote and union organ
 izers predicted they were certain to
 follow the course taken by their fel-
 low employees.
 Employees Reply Unsatisfactory.
 The strike vote was taken tonight
 after the reply of the company to an
 ultimatum from it's employees had been declared unsatisfactory. The re-
 port of the negotiations was made by
 a committee of six which had been
 appointed to confer with General Man
 ager Frank HedIey. The committee demanded the right to organize with
 out fntinidatio md a wage increase
 from thirty cents to thfrty-three cents an hour.
 A letter received by the committee
 from MT. Hedley said he was 'at all times willing to meet the employees
 of this company" and that he would
 be glad to see the committeeman at his office at noon tomorrow. The meeting was marked by tumul- tuous enthusiasm and the vote to strike was greeted with cheers which could be heard for blocks around the 1 assembly hall
 "Strike! Strflze!" was the shout which came from all corners of the 1 hall when the report had been read. Then followed the formal motion to l cease work which was carried without a dissenting voice.
 c. L. F. Delegation Present. The meeting was attended by a del- egatiOn from the Central Labor Fed eratiOn representing $50, 900 union men who pledged their moral and financial support to the mOtornen and cOnduc- tors in their efforts to uniOnize. Tel | egrans were received from Chicago, Boston and Detroit making similar l pledges
 A firm of Boston lawyers wired that l friends of the care men.s union in | that city will advance to you for the | benefit of the Amalgamated Associa- 1 tion, on your own terms. $100,000 to | help you and the New York car men l in their fight to win industrial free dom and independence.
 Scouts Sent Out. 1 Hundreds of scouts and mission l aries" were sent out at the close of l the meeting to inform other em~ ! DlOVes of the company that a strike l had been ordered and to convert those | who might be reluctant to join the i WaIkout.
 Prompt action was taken by Gen ] eral Manager HedIey to provide for 1 emergencies. As soon as he had been 1 informed of the action of the men l he notified Max Schmittberger, chief | inspector of police, that a strike had | OF %J,1 York Railways company. Schmittber- l ger at once detailed men to guard the | power houses and car barns of the | company. Uniformed policemen will 1 be assigned to every car operated eith- ! CT by faithful employees of the cor | poration or by strikebreakers.
 i, 5o0,o00 Travel on Lines.
 If the strike order goes into effect 1 without a hitch. all Manhattan will be 1 dependent for transportation tomor- l row upon the subway and elevated | lines, already crowded to suffocation 1 in the rush hours. The number of 1 persons who travel to and from their l been estimated at 1900, 900. Even a 1 fraction of this army forced to ride l upon the overhead or underground 1 trains will seriously disrupt operating | schedules, it is feared.
 Complete Tieup is Threatened. The threat has been made by union 1 organizers that they would tie up l every transportation line in the city, i although no serious effort has been | made as yet to organize the employees 1 of the InterborOugh Rapid Transit | company which operates the subways 1 and elevated roads and which con- ] trOls the New York Ri1ways company. 1 So long as these avenues of transpor- l tation remain open there will be no l serious Interruption to the commer- l ciaI life of the city.
 I It was confidently predicted by 1 union organizers tonight, however, { that the Interborough's workers would 1 soon be found in the ranks of the 1 strikers.
 Brooklyn Not Affected.
 Transit facilities in Brooklyn have
 not been affected thus far but it was | reported that many employees of the
 Brooklyn Rapid Transit company were becoming restless and it was | feared that the strike might soon | spread across the river.
 The strike, which now threatens to | become the most serious of it's kind 1 in the history of the city, began in | Bronx and then to the lines of the l Third Avenue Railroad company. All ! these transit lines are operated by the 1 same parent corporation.
 Corporations of all kinds which are I large employers 6f labor were making
 prepara tions tonight to meet the l emergency which a general strike 1 would bring Many of them have arr
 ranged an automobile service which will be operated on a regular sched- l ule They have distributed printed 1 cards among their employees directing 1 them to be at certain corners at a , stated time to board the cars which