The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-07-19
FIGHTERS
OUT ON STRIKE
Chicago's Equipment Badly
Crippled When 237 Men
Refuse to Work.
TO, WALK OUT
One Hundred Thousand Build
ing Construction Work
men Locked Out.

Chicago, July 19.-Two hundred
and thirty-seven men who operate
| Chicago's steam and gas fire engines
went on strike at o'clock this morn
| ing leaving the citys fire fighting
equipment badly crippled.
Fifteen thousand employees o& sur
face and elevated street railwayNlines
have voted by an overwhelming ma
jority to strike unless they are
granted wage increases amounting to
approximately n per cent. of the
present scale.
About 100000 men employed in
building construction work are locked
out by their. employers who charge
the men went on strike in violation
of agreements.
Thousands of men are on strike
at the Argo plant of the Corn Pro-
ducts Refining company, the plants
of the International Harvester COM
pany, Crane & company and many
smaller industries.
These are the outstanding features
today of the most serious labor sit
uation Chicago has faced in years.
The disputes involve more than 200,-
900 men and industrial operations
amounting to millions OF dollars have
been halted or are badly crippled.
Although the street car employees
have voted by a huge majority to go
on strike, no immediate action will
be taken, the men declaring they will
give their employers ample time to
consider their demands. The street
car companies are not averse to
CHANTING their employees Increased
wages, but declare they cannot do so
unless granted permission to increase
fares.
I The building trades lockout which
began yesterday morning is still in
progress but members of the unions
have approved the appointment of
a peace" delegation to call upon the
employers in an effort to bring about
a settlement.
The city fire engineers who went
out this morning declare their action
is not strike. since strikes are not
permissible under civil service rules.
They assert 1t is Wholesale resig-
nation as ia protest against the fail
nre Of the council finance committee
to grant Wage Increases.
Walked in Rain. ~
Boston, Jolly lg.--A heavy rain
StUliil t1A ~, ttl5HfFeQs IN Inv tHttu suh3
of the gt, lse 7kF 500 employees Of the
Boston FSldva{eAd Railway company.
The th0usanda Aof persons hi Boston
and its snbulb& who could not afford
were forced k6 walk iIiiles to work in
the rain. seadlock over the selection
of third member. of a board of ar
bitration continued today.
Traction Lines Tied Up.
Providence. r. l., July 19.---H Half a
million people woke up to find all Of
the traction lines operated by ssthe
Rhode Island company tied up, with
$500 employees of the road idle, more
than 500 cars locked in the barns and
approximately 400 miles of track use
less as the result of the failure of the
trustees of the street railway COM
pany and representatives of the
Providence Street Car Mems union to
agree on a wage schedule.
The strike ties up very near the
whole state of Rhode Island, with the
exception of Newport. Eight hum
dred trolley men at Westerly, In the
southern corner of the state, are also
on strike. The cities of Pawtucket
and Woonsocket. with their scores of
mills and big industrial plants, are
acected. The strikers demand Is
cents an hour. They had been re-
ceiving a maximum of 43 cents an
hour.