Evening star., 1955-07-03

stayed walkers.
The union said workers had
to serve "an apprenticeship Of
10 years before we reached the
maximum pay Of ~ cents an
hour, this being practically the
longest period and the lowest
wages prevailing in America"
Strikers sought arbitration,
with President Wilson acting as
umpire. WR&E refused fatty.
Petitions were distributed. urg-I
ing municipal ownership Of the
lines. The Senate ordered an
of the wrangle that
was getting its clerks and secre-
taries to work late in the morn
ings.
Car Jumped Curve
Tempers got hotter. The night
Of March 81, a mob threw two
strikebreakers of car at Sec
ond and e streets Sc. - the
Southeast section Of town seemed
to favor direct action-and set
the car In motion again. giving
it a three-block runaway trip
until it jumped a curve and was
smashed up.
That same night a motorman
stopped his car before a North
Capitol street saloon. Forgetting
he had taken the conductor
along, he reboarded and left. He
had to back up some distance to
retrieve his drinking pal, The
Star reported.
Citizens associations wrote
letters protesting "the strike
breakers rough treatment Of
passengers and the poor service" !"
A dynamite blast lifted a
streetcar into the air at East
Capitol and Ninth streets. awak-
ening the Lincoln Park area.
Injuries were minor.
More dynamite was set on on
Georgia avenue, telling two poles.
Mass demonstrations stranded
|streetcars all over town as strike
breakers fled, their pants pockets
heavy with fares.
Tracks Jammed
Strikers mostly favored sabo-
tage to knock the plows OF
|streetcars. Paving stones, bolts.
|timbers. garden wickets and other
|objects were jammed into the
slots between tracks.
Between these obstructionS
and the strikebreakers' own in
Ieptness, most of the cars were
making regular stops at the
barns for repairs.
In Hyattsville, a special officer
arrested a strikebreaker on a
warrant charging false arrest,
since the man arresting him dis
played no badge. Then the COM
Ipany sent a crew in an auto to
bail out and drive the strike
breaker back to Washington.
The auto driver was arrested for
having no permit.
Yet despite all. this the men
I'm charge of the StrikebreakerS
car. The accused then obtained a
said Washington. certainly is a
peaceful city. We have had COM
paratively little trouble here"
In other towns, he explained,
Istrikebreakers had to provide
Iriflemen guards on streetcars.
The peaceful" city saw pistol
shots fired through streetcar
windows, bricks thrown at the
lgoons and clumsy motormen
smashing their cars into other
cars, trees and humans.
The city began cracking down
and forcing fares to be rung up.
IDisgusted strikebreakers, their
rake-off hurt, began leaving
town. Two hundred departed in
one batch.
StFikebreakers Beaten
The company formally an
nounced the strike was broken
and workers were returning to
their jobs. The strikers answered
THAT Of 1,107 who had walked
out, only "a had quit striking.
Strikebreakers filed complaints
| of their own against their own
When they got paid off. and
asked for the transportation
guaranteed them in their con-
tracts, strong-arm bouncers gave
them a going over and threw
them out. they said. The strikers
did not weep.
On and on went the struggle,
but violence subsidized to only
occasional flareups.
Meanwhile, other transit lines
here had granted 80 cents ar
hour to journeymen employees
WR&E went along, but paid 81
cents only to 10-year men. Later
when wartime prices knocked
THE roof of living costs. WR&E
made it 80 cents.
In July, the Senate investi.
lgators concluded their inquiry
land announced they were deeply
Sympathetic with the unfortu.
nate condition Of the striking