New Britain herald., 1919-04-15

5y hS&t1S OI SpCcIai SlSIllt systems, Arc Cooperating As Much As Pos siblc in All Cases of ET1acr~cnry-- Business Houses in BOtOn Arc Still Able to Get Into Communication With New York.
 Boston, April 15-TeIcphone con- munication throughout most Of New England except Connecticut was sus- pended today by strike of operators in the New England Telephone and Telegraph company and the Provi- dence Telephone company. In this and other cities the operators. quit work at seven a. m. and tho wires be- came dead.
 The union demands include pay in creases and the right of collective bargaining.
 Operators Quit At : !. M.
 At tho local exchanges, night oper- ators, whose duties ended at seven tt. m., left their boards without waiting tor relief and reported to the union headquarters. Several hundred day operators reported for picket duty
  CTS attended d mass meeting.
 Picket tours of three hours cuch were esta bished about the exchanges and at the railroad terminals. The pickets were asked to watch for strike-brcakers, but reported that none had appeared during the morn- ing hours.
 Government Not Badly Hampercd. Arrangements had been made so that the business of the army and navy was interfered with as little as possible. Direct circuits not depend- ent upon telephone company opera tors had been established between army headquarters and various arno- rieS, camps and other stations in the city and eastern Massachusetts and similar arrangements had been made for the naval stations.
 Cares For Emergencies.
 The police and fire departm ents, equipped with Brown signal systems were enabled to maintain communi- cation with their stations. All police men were instructed to lend every possible assistance in cases of umer- gencies. By means of telephones in the patrol boxes throughout the city, it was possible to relay messages from
 
 partment was prepared to use this method to summon physicians or care for any other emergencies, but 1t was announced that the system would not be used for purely business affairs.
 Long Distance Not Affected.
 The strike did not affect the. long distance service of the American Tel ephone and Telegraph company and it was still possible today for business houses to connect with New York and other points providing their office equipment was such that the calls did not go through New England company switchboards. More than 100 operators are employed in the American company's exchange here and all were on duty today.
 Plans for Restoration. !. At the main office of the New Eng land company here early in the day, 1t was announced that first reports indicated "a pretty complete tie-up of the system, but with some local service being given in small places "Plans were being made" it was added for restoration of service"
 5000 Idle in Boston.
 Strike headquarters here reported all of the five thousand operators ir the Boston district idle, with an- nouncements coming in constantly that the strike order had been gen orally observed in outside cities Pickets were established in front o1 ell the exchanges and at railroad sta tions, the union leaders saying they anticipated that the company would endeavor to operate the lines with men and women from outside New England
 63O,O00 People Affected.
 There are approximately 630,00C folaphone subscribers in the four