South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-04-17
ELEVATOR MEN OF
new YORK STRIKE
Demand an Eight Hour Day
and Increase In
Wages. y

NEW YORK. April 16.-There's
.a-puf, pu1,-elevator strike in
whew.-Nevy York today.
Tens Of thousands Of workers who
daily commute between-puff,-th
earth and top floors Of the sky
scrapers on Lower Broadway were
thrown back several cons in civiliza-
ton by the walkout OF scores of ele-
vator operators and scaled the
heights 70 their eyries in the noun
tains Of steel and granite 20 an alti-
tude that no self-respecting cliff
dweller ever attempted
Operators Demand.
Operators demanded an eight
hour day and wage increase OF from
IS 10 $40 a week Union leaders
said II. 900 would quit work.
Delivery Of mail was delayed IN
some buildings. Postmen sat OH
their packs in building Hobbies wait
ing for chance TO squeeze into the
few crowded elevators that were
running.
A reporter thought il would be
funny to swipe a ride on one Of the
few elevators operating In the City
Investing company building and
puff puff!--watch from a vantage
point on the 18th floor the newly
created mountaineers labor by. RE
rode up all right but-b'gosh!-he
walked down.
All Operators Out.
The City Investing building is "a
stories high and has % elevators
All Of the operators walked out,
leaving 10000 persons standing IN
the lower corridOr-and an over
flow meeting on Broadway.
Now. New York is used TO walk
ing-horizontally- street car
elevated, subway and taxi strikes,
but walking straight up was a new
experience.
Hundreds stormed the narrow.
winding stairway in the City Inves-
ting building. high in spirits and
light Of foot. Their spirits sank in
inverse ratio TO the floors they pass
ed and their feet began TO drag
and d r a &. and Z.
The peculiar phase Of the whole
thing, though, was that nobody got
sore SO far as could be observed,
everybody took it all as a huge joke.
In the City Investing building Office
employees who had had some eN-
perience as elevator Chauffeurs be-
fore they were graduated 10 the
typewriter Of ledger. volunteered to
run the cages-at least until all
the employees on their floor had
reached their offices.
The service was inadequate, now
ever, and many workers refused 10
wait their turn and walked away
Dizzy Experience.
The reporter rode up with a vol
unteer operator. 1t was a dizzy ex-
perience. A trick aviator could
learn a few stunts from that young
man.
At the 18th floor a parade was
passing along upward The major
ity Of the climbers were girls. All
were as tired as though they had
walked It miles rather than II
floors. It was learned later that a
few hardy ones went TO the 33rd and
4th floors.
The few elevators running would
take no passengers downward. When
the reporter started he was out or
training. When he collapsed on the
ground he was out OF breath.
Similar conditions existed in the
Equitable building. the Metropolitan
Life. the Flatiron, Trinity and Unit
ed States Realty buildings.
me longest NeTIlcdl IdlAIodu III
the world. in the Woolworth build
ing-5S stories or 1872 feet high
was not affected by the strike.
WoT-sen Stick.
Today's walkout apparently dem
onstrated that men are better strik
ers than women, as in every build
ing where women elevator operators
were employed they stuck 10 their
posts. There was no interruption Of
service in the Singer building, 4S
stories high, where % girls are en-
ployed; in the Telephone and Tele-
graph building, where there are 20
girl elevator operators, or in the
Hudson terminal building where
there are 90 elevators, run by men.
It was reported that several en-
ployes, including girls in the Eqult-
able Life building walked as high
as the 40th floor. The reporter was