The Washington herald., 1917-03-15

When the great scientist Darwin took
to the fancy Of establishing a zoo in his
back yard and began experimenting with
monkeys, and then finally, one day. many
generations ago, evolved the theory OF
the survival Of the fittest, it is one safe
bet that he didn't have street car strikes
in mind. Darwin, in fact, had never
seen a street car, yet he must have had
some idea of labor troubles. .,.f
Last night was "newspapermen's
night" at the seven car barns Of the
Washington Railway and Electric Com
pany. and speaking Of the perils of a wal
correspondents job or the Hazards OF
Henry" "The Dangers of Daisy" and
other daredevil stun, why those stunts
are like blazing box of matches to the
curtain of fire. of the European bat
tlefields when compared with the travels
and thrills of the staff OF newspapermen
who were the guests of the transit COM
pany.
But how about the survival of the ft-
test? 1t Is briefly this-the strongest man
wins, and the side which can hold out
longest will win this strike. Listen to
what a representatives OF The Washing
ton Herald saw last night.
Start Inspection.
The press representatives, accompanien
by c. B. Reed. Walter Rutledge, and
William j. O'Brien. of the Washington
Detective Bureau. Incorporated. with Of
fees in New York City, the three men
who are In charge of the strikebreakers.
left the Occidental Hotel at 7:3o O'Clock
last night In two automobiles.
The nrst stopping place was to be the
East barn Of the company at Four
teenth and East Capitol streets north
east. In driving to that destination the
chau1eurs went along the lines of the
Capital Traction Company for some time
Get away for these tracks," yelled
Mr.. Reed to the chauffeur. Our bust
ness Is the lines Of the Washington COM
pany."
He told the driver what streets he
should follow until he arrived at the
barns 1t was a rapid fire command,
and no Washington policeman could be
better acquainted with the locations of
streets.
Mr.. Reed Is a stranger here, but 1t
has taken him only three days to learn
about the lay of this city. Messrs. Rut-
ledge and O'Brien know no less.
This little incident is mentioned to
explain the type of men the leaders
of the strikebreakers are. The three
are dressed in the height of fashion
and are sleek looking from head to
foot. They do not appear like men
who would dirty themselves in a
fight. but they did.
Stop in Midst of ThronE
Arriving at the car barns the auto
mobiles stopped in the midst of a
dense throng of strikers and sympa-
thizers. The party made it's way to q
door. which was locked. Several raps
by Mr.. Reed and a guard opened
The door closed amid wild shouting
from fhA without har
uncomplimentary epithets being ut
tered.
E. c. Elliott, who has the title of
chief of instruction, received the
party. He has been with the company
for twenty-five years.
The first place inspected by the news
papermen was a small side room, fltted
up with bins in which lay brand new
conductors and motornen's caps and
equipment, from applications for employ
ment to punches used on tickets. These
punches were all rusted. and appeared
Like Q bunch of scrap. They had been
taken from the reserve stock. which had
been untouehed through years of peace.
Just then the guests were startled by
banging noise on the door. which was
opened and admitted Mr.. Rutledge and
H. W. Lynn who was hatless and very
much out Of breath. His clothes bore evil
dence Of rough handling.
Beaten and Locked Up.
Mr.. Lynn had been arrested and locked
up in Georgetown. where he was operat-
ing one of the company's cars. He ex-
planned how he had been punched on
the Jaw and in the back of the neck and
kicked in the stomach and then arrested
for disorderly conduct
Mr.. Rutledge had slipped away from
the newspapermen's party in some un-
seen manner and had gone to get Mr..
Lyon out Of the police station.
The company has feet of automo-