Evening star., 1937-06-18

tracts. Inland and Youngstown
are not attempting to operate, Re-
public and Bethlehem are. Inland
faces National Labor Board hear
ing on a charge OF haUing failed to
bargain NTH c. /. o. Secretary OF
Labor Perkins yesterday appointed
three Federal medidtors to try to
settle difficulties OF strike.
s.. the Associated Press.
CLEVELAND, June &c. I O.
shouted a spirited Garry on" to
its striking steel workers today as
violence flared anew on the strike
front.
At Canton, Ohio, a short section OF
the trackage of the Wheeling e. Lake
Erie Railroad, near the Republic steel
plant, was dynamited today. Damage
was slight, however, and was repaired
quickly.
The house of Anthony Castro, who
has remained at work in the Republic
plant despite the strike, was bombed
one corner wrecked.
Hundreds of grim, brawny men
gathered at JohnStoWn, Pa last night
and raised calloused hands in a united
pledge to continue the strike against
the Bethlehem plant there for weeks
and weeks" II necessary. to win a
signed contract.
But the JohnstoWn picket lines were
thinner, and the plant officials re-
ported work was going on much bet
ter"
A Chicago mass meeting heard
speakers lambast the four strike-af-
fected steel corporations, and then
sang the strike theme song, Sign
on the Dotted Line"
Cleveland however, became the
focal point of interest as the Fed
eral Governments mediation efforts
took form. The first meeting Of a
three-man mediation board, which
Secretary of Labor Perkins named
yesterday, was called for tomorrow
by its chairman. Charles P. Taft, 3D.
The other mediators are Lloyd K
Garrison Of the University OF Wis
consin and the veteran trouble Shoot
er, Edward F. McGrady of the Labor
Department.
Boards Future Uncertain.
Whether the board would have any
thing to mediate was a big question.
1t has no power Of compulsion, and
there was no indication today the
steel companies or the c. I. o. were
ready to rest the fate Of the strike
in the hands Of such board
I'VE will Cooperate" was as far as
either side was willing to go.
Taft, Republican, who drafted
that party's planks on relief and So
cial security in the Landon platform,
hoped to get the decks cleared for
action today. Garrison is expected in
time for tomorrow's meeting, but NC
Grady, now aboard the Berengaria en-
route home from Europe, may not
arrive until late tomorrow night.
Taft. not yet 40. is author of you
and and Roosevelt" a book in which
he takes issue with many New Deal
policies. Three years ago he success
fully mediated the Electric Auto-Lite
strike at Toledo, an accomplishment
that won the appreciation of both
President Roosevelt and Secretary
Perkins.
The possibility the steel strike.
which is costing about $75O,OO0 a day,
might spread to the railroads was
suggested today in a statement by
Alexander F. Whitney, president of
the Brotherhood OF Railway Train
men, Asked concerning reports that
the tralnmen would refuse to handle
shipments to or from strike affected
plants, he said:
Il told our fellows at Youngstown
Warren and Canton, Ohio, and in
one or two places in PENNSYLVANIA,
that they were not required to sub
ject themselves to danger. Under
unusual circumstances it is up to the
men to decide whether movement of
cars is dangerous.
Thugs Rounded Up, Is Charge. Z.
THE difficulty is that the steel
companies and some railroads are
rounding up all the thugs in the
country. putting stars on them and
calling them officers. It Is dangerous
to work around such men.
Il told our men that If the rail-
roads undertook to discipline them
or ordered them to work under
dangerous conditions we will protect
them"
The back-to-work chorus was heard
on several sectors. At Johnstown a
Citizens Committee, organized to pre-
serve order, adopted a resolution in
sisting that there be mo compromise
with the right to work"
Representative Clare Hoffman, the
militant Michigan Republican. who
offered to lead citizen army" to
the aid Of Monroe, Mich, several days
ago, addressed the citizens rally at
Johnstown and called upon true
Americans" to "join hands and fight
together to triumph over disloyal
forces Of disorder and destruction. !"
The tone was different on the ros-
trum Of the Chicago mass meeting
where Lieut.. Gov. Thomas Kennedy
Of Pennsylvania was the principal
speaker, filling in for John L. Lewis
head of c. I. O., who was obliged to
cancel his engagement.