The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1922-08-22

Meeting Is Intense
New York, August 22-The shop
crafts strike entered another phase
today when rail presidents from
Western states began to arrive for
tomorrow conference of the Asso-
citation of Railway Executives, where
they will vote their answers to meas
ures proposed by the five big broth
erhoods as a practical means of set
tling the seniority question and end
ing the strike.
This will mark the third nation
wide assembling OF rail chiefs within
the last month, at which time the
strikers seniority rights has risen to
block the path of the settlement.
At the first two meetings plans sub
mitted by President Harding were ac-
cepted, but with reservations which
eliminated them as basis for calling
off the strike.
Tomorrow the rail men will face a
new situation; the entrance of the
big five brotherhoods into the nego-
tiations, where. as meditors, they have
made plain their attitude toward SEMI
ority rights as applied to their fell
low workers, the striking shopcrafts
men.
The response of the carriers to the
call sent out by T. Dewitt Cuyler,
head of the association, led officials
today to predict that every member
road, including POI class 1 lines with
over 100000 miles of track would be
ko1 h. INo
gan.
Heads of the sixteen rail workers
unions, including the "big five of the
running trades and others Of the run
ming crafts were expected to meet
here tonight. Although it has not
been determined that the joint con-
ferences cannot be resumed before
Thursday, they agreed to be in the
city, within call, tomorrow, while the
association of executives is in ses-
sion.
Assertion of L. F. Laures, president
of the Eastern Executives Association,
that talk of peace in rail strike was
"all bunk was attacked by COM
mittee representing eastern strikers
today in a telegram to Bert Jewell,
H6du Ol IHt SIlOpillCi, dI
"The Laugree group of rail execu-
tives, insignificant in numbers but
backed by the vast power of the
Morgan-Gary open shop interests, is
making a desperate eleventh hour ef-
fort to scuttle the strike settlement,
says the telegram despatched by
John ]. Dowd, chairman of the Metro
politan district strike committee.
Both sides in the negotiations were
pledged, as you know, by their re-
spective mediation committee, to re-
frain from comment that might en-
barrass the conferees. Last evening
Et Loree deliberately violated the
fsement and arrogantly attempted
y6end the peace efforts by giving to
WI press a statement in which he
Called the peace talk bunk and
criticised the efforts of the majority
of the executives to reach an agree
ment with the union representatives
"This latest effort of the die hard
minority shows that they will stop at
nothing in their efforts to break the
union on their roads" The message
concluded: 1--WE urge you personally
to bring this matter to the immediate
attention of government authorities in
ouch with the strike situation and to
the mediation committee of five fol-
their guidance"
Southern Is Hard Hit
Salisbury, N. c., Aug. 22.-Only one
southbound passenger train on the
Southern Railway had passed Sails
bury up to $3.50 this morning as re-
suit of an agreement by individual
members of the big four unions and
switchmen not to take trains out OF
Salisbury or go on company territory
until armed guards are removed
This agreement will be made per
manent today, it was said.
It was said at Spencer that all north
bound trans had been moved out oi
that terminal with crews made up oi
ofiicals of the road.
Blame for Michigan Central Wreck
Chicago, August 22.-J. F. McGrath
vice-president of the railway EN-
ployes' department of the American
Federation of Labor (shopcraft EN-
ployes), issued a statement today de
claring the real cause of the Michigan
Central wreck at Gary, Ind, Sunday
was clearly an unfit locomotive an(
characterizing the railroads charges
that the wreck was due to plotters al
Hastily patched up explanation Il
place the blame for loss of life upoi
the striking shopmen instead of ol
the railroad" where 1t belonged. H
said the wreck did not differ a par
ticle from wrecks reported each da,
from various parts of the country
Mr.. McGrath's statement, coming Of
the heels of the coroner's jury whicl