New-York tribune., 1919-04-16
Girls
Strike Ties IN,
New England
oOOsOOO Subscribers Left
Without Communication
~ Operators Leave Boards
When Denied Increase
Ask Wilson to Intervene
Brrleson Wires Governor
Every Attempt VIII Be
Made to Restore Service.


so.ie
BOSTON, April 15-New Englant
settled down tonight to the uncom'
fortable realization that telephone Ser.
vice IN this section, EXCEPT in Con,
necticut, had been almost completely
tied up by the strike of several thou.
sand operators of the New England
Telephone and Telegraph Company and
tho Providence Telephone Company
The girls walked out at a. III. and a
day without facilities for quick com
munications brought home to every one
tina seriousness of the situation.
Business men found their transac-
tionss greatly hampered. In homes
where there was illness the delay IN
summoning physicians caused much
anxiety. Newspapers had considerable
difficulty in gathering the news Of the
day. including that Of tho strike itself,
as there was no telephone connection
either with the company's office or with
the strike headquarters.
Strikers Seek Higher Wages
No move toward settlement had
been made tonight. The operators
seek wage advance and the oppar~
tunity of bargaining directly with tha
officials of the companies. They de-
clare that since tho operation OF tho
wires was taken OYER By the Post
office Department they have been mn
able to obtain proper consideration Of
their demands. Postmaster General
Bnrleson has insisted that he has p1n-
vided machinery for the handling OF
wage questions, and that tha operators
have failed to take advantage OF it.
Joseph P Tumutty, secretary TO Prsess~
dent Wilson, semi q telegram to Miss
JuliaS QConnot, president of thu 1el.-
phone Operators Department. to-rtnsil4,
proposing that the striking operators
IN New England submit their wage
scale 10 William E. Driver, jr. general
manager of the New England I'ele~
phone and Telegraph Company.
Retroactive Scale Demanded
Miss O'Connor, in p reptv.. said that
the operators would submit their scala
to Alr. Driver provided they were given
the assurance of the Federal govern
n1ent that he had been given ful power.
TO settle wage scales. retroactive 10
December g., the date upon which tho
wage agreement between the company
and the operators expired
Replying labs to-day 10 - telegram
tent by Governor Coolidge yesterday
urging ths PastmAstsr Generals iniief4
sehtioh te end the strike, Nj, Bnfln-
seh wired that "eycry step possihin
Was taken" 10 avert tho etfikai that
tho operators had walked Out ''Nsthoat
Any eAnaa eYisting," and that ihe opel,
stlng officials Of Tho companies had
been direeted TO taks avery step IA
rsstnra this service
,WllliHln r. Driver, jr, general man
ager Of tho New England COMPANY, as
sssr'tsd in statement tonight tha1
snrue OF the strikers ilaa returned to
work and that the management was
undertaking ~the work of developing
Eompeten< operating force"
Strike headquarters here reported
auiof the 5000 operators in the Bos-
ton district idle, with announcements
coming in constantly that the strike
order had been generally observed in
outside cities Pickets were estab-
lished in front of all the exchanges
leaders saying they anticipated that
the company would endeavor to oper-
ates the lines with men and women
from outside New England
Telegraph companies had Il crush OF
business as a result Of the stoppage
of telephone comrnunication and the
services Of messenger boys and girls
were at a premium.
a cablegram signed jointly by Gov
ernors Coolidge. OF Massachusetts,
Bartlett. of New Hampshire and Beck
man, Of Rhode Island. calling for ex-
ecutive action on the telephone strike
situation, was sent TO President Wilson
to-day. 1t read:
New England urges your immediate
action to relieve from great loss by
telephone strike"
Fifteen Democratic members of the
Massachusetts Legislature telegraphed
Postmaster General Burleson to-day
urging him to fulfil pledges made at
So, Louis convention by settling the
telephone strike"
Ihe telegram suggested as arbi traitors
Senator Walsh; William II. OBricn. Of
tht telephone bureau Of the state pub
iif service commission; Sherman l..
WSipple; District Attorney j. G. Pelle-
tfer; Congressman Gaiiiyan, Olney and
Paelan, and Henry b. Endicott, former
chairman Of the state public safety
cormittec.
There arc approximately $50 900 tclc-
phone Subscribers in the four states
| seryed by the New England company.
rye hundred thousand Of these are IN
5lztS1c4uE@tte Matre b.a IN mn NJ