New Britain herald., 1916-08-02
CARMEN THREATEN
 NATIONAL STRIKE
Movement in New York Only First
 Step, Says Organizer
WILL TIE UP WHOLE COUNTRY
Public Service Commission Attempts To Pacify Disputants and End Mem acc-Railroad Vote Being Counted Garment Workers Conference.

New York, Aug. 2.-New York state and city authorities are prenar- ing today to deal with a great strike of street railway employees which if begun, is expected to tie up virtually the whole street railway service of the city. Officers of the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Men who are in charge of the efforts to organize the employees in order to enforce a demand for recognition of the union and an increase in pay, said today that they were nearly ready to present their demands to the New York Railways Company, operating most of the surface lines in the bor- ough of Manhattan.
 Officers of this company are prepar ing to resist the demands of the men and are esta blishing dormitories and training new employees in the opera ton of cars to take place of strikers.
 The labor leaders declined to dis close their plan for extending the strike. It Is not known whether they will do so gradually or continue their work of organization and of bringing the employees into their union until they are ready to call simultaneous strike throughout the whole city.
 The first step toward organizing the 1000 employees of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company was taken last night and continued today.
 Mayor Mitchell having failed to in- duce the disputants to arbitrate, the public service commission intervened today by summoning representatives of both sides to a hearing this after noon so as to bring out all the facts and submit them to public criticism.
 The threatened tie up of every car line in Greater New York is to be only the first step in a country wide strike of street car men in order to win the unions demand for the right to organize everywhere, it was stated today by Louis Frediger, counsel for the union organizers.
 This is to be country wide af- fair" MT. Frediger declared. The organizing of street railway men is progressing rapidly. Attention is to be centered first on New York city"
 Garment Workers Conference On.
 Three mediatOrs appointed by the United States department of labor will confer here today with manufac- turers of WOmon's garments and wit h leaders of the union of their empIOyes in an attempt to end the strike of 45,OOO makers of wOmen'S clothes which has been in progress for IA weeks. If the mediators fail to bring about an agreement, it ie understood they will start an investigation of the women's garment industry
 The strike situation was compJica1- ed today by the action of 15O manu- lecturers of mems clothes who locked out yesterday 15,O00 workers ard who planned to close more shops to- day, increasing the number of idle garment workers to 30,OOO. There are reports that the union of workers on mems garments will call a gen. eral strike of 60,000 men.
 Fully O,00O,0OO in orders for women's clothes and 0,0O0,OOO for mems are waiting to be filled when the shops reopen.
 PrepOndcrance For Strike.
 When 100000 of the 400, 900 ballots cast by members of four brotherhoods who are voting on the question of calling a general strike on 225 rail- roads, had been counted at noon to- day, it was announced that "a pre- ponderant number of the men are in favor of a strike.'