Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-08-18
NEW YORK CITY
DEMORALIZED BY
TROLLEY STRIKE
Stoppage of Main Arteries of
Travel Cause Worst Snarl
IN City's History
By Associated Press.

Ncw YORK, august 1o.-MOre tnan
two million persons. who ordinarily
travel daily over ;ho Interboroug h
Rapid Transit Company's 'Dway and
elevated lines in Manhattan. the
Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens to-day
either took slow moving surface cars
and imprCvised conveyancCs or walk
ed to their work as a result of the
strike OF she Conpanys 1l,Got en-
ployes for so per cent. increase in
wages. AS yesterday wnen the
strike became effective, not wheel
turned on the company's 25O miles Of
trackage.
me stoppage of the main arteries
of travel caused the worst traffic
snarl in the history of the city. rhe
narrow streets in downtown New
York, were fairly cohgestrd during
the early morning hours. Thousands
of jitneys and busses, oDerated by the
city, filed to capacity with workers,
clog6cd the thoroughfares. Thous-
ands fought in vain for standing
room on each overloaded trolley ear.
THolleys and other vehicles moved
at snails pace. Residents on the
outer fringe of the city were Unable
to reach their places of employment
until many hours after their usual
time ami consequently i1iuHtrial New
York was crippled.
The New York Central Railroad op-
Grated 26 extra trains of ten cars
each between Hudson and Harlem
river points TO the Grand Central sta
tion. The $4,000 extra passengers
carried on these trains, in addition to
the regular traffic 'caused by an un-
precedented congestion 1T the great
terminal.
Rain Adds to Distress
Fleets of ferries and other craft
pressed hurriedly into scrvI'e, passed
the North and East river carrying
passengers between the upper end
lower ends of Manhattan Island for
the first time in many years.
More than 5000 policemen guarded
the company's property and endeav-
ored to control the It'd" of humanity
sweeping through the streets. Not
withstaI ding the confusion, there was
but little disorder and the crowds,
as Il whole. appeared to take their
incon venience good naturcdiy. Rain
added to the general trlffiI distress.
An effort to reach an agreement be-
tween the Interhorough officials and
the strike leaders will be made this
afternoon at conference with Pub
lie Service Commissioner Nixon. Mr.
Nixon expressed the hope that Il COM
promise might be effected, basing his
hope on a statement attributed TO
President Conolly of the Brother
hood, that although thc ren had
made demands for an increase of 50
per cent. in wages, the strike would
not have been called hai the com
pany offered a raise Of % per cent. In
the unsuccessful negotiations last
week. ten per cent. increase was
offered
The tieup, which began promptly at
a. m. as ordered, with the refusals
of crews to start runs from the car
barns. became absolute at am, when
the last of the trains sent out before
o'clock completed their runs, wele
shunted into the barns and aban-
doned.
At that hour, strikers in the Inter
borough power houses shut off the
power, causing temporary stoppaSe
OF traffic on the surface lines of the
New York Railways and the Manhat-
tan spurs of the Brooklyn Rapid Tran
sit Company, which use lnterborough
power.
Three power houses resumed opera
tion an hour later. however, permit
ting resumption of traffic on these
lines. which were iammed throughout
the day. as were the steam railroads,
automobile trucks, sightseeing buses.
and boat lines which essayed to take
care of the crowds.
City officials and the Public Service
Commission are bending, every effort
to-day toward providing emergency
transportation for the nearly 2,5O0,OOO
persong who are swarming the thor
ouEhfares leading into Manhattan
seeking transportation to their places
of employment.
The strikers worked with the high
est precision and efficiency, running
their cars quietly into the barns and
leaving them in most orderly fashion.
Investigations by District Attorney
Swami, Of New York county and Dis
trict Attorney Martin, of the Bronx.
were resumed to-day in an effort to
c.btain evidence in subStantiatlon OF
Mavor Hylan's charge that the strike
was the result of coliusion between o.
ficials of the Interborough and the
brotherhood, which is company
union. in an effort to force an increase
in fares. ,-
Harry Jones. national organizer OF
the Amalgamated Association or
street and Electric Railway Empioyes
which is perfecting an organi"a-
zion of Interborough employees as
rival of the brotherhood organization,
charges that officials of the company
had refused an offer of the Amalga-
mated to furnish the company with
600 men to run trains. This charge
was apparently borne out by an an
ncuncement made at mass meeting
of striking brotherhood members to
the effect that Frank Hedley. general
manager of the InterborouCh. had
hecn offered the services of 700 of his
cnpIoyes who were members of the
Ama1gamated. and that he had refus-
cd the offer. declaring that he would
deal with the Brotherhood and no
one else
Tonight he had received several re-
norts that strikers had declared they
did not care how long the strike last
ed as they were getting paid for