Newspapers / Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) / Aug. 13, 1907, edition 1 / Page 1
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.,.-r. ... TBS SHEVIL .CITIZEN IT WILL PAY YOU .... v . ..... Tu Itcnrt.Tlrf CHUru Want Ails. THE WIUTHER. VOL. XXIL NO. 239. ASHEvn.T.n n. a, Tuesday morning, august is, ioo7. PRICE FIVE CENTS. m ASSOCIATED PRESS TELEGRAPHERS MEME mE liflflMS OF STRIKING OPERATORS of The Country Seriously Crippled by Unexpected Action Taken Early Last Night Men Leave Work at a Given Signal STRIKE HAS ALMOST BECOME - GENERAL THROUGHOUT COUNTRY Business of all Kinds Seriously Impaired by One of The Greatest Strikes In The Labor World Citizen Office Feels it as Well as Others STRIKE WIDKSPMCAD NEW YORK. Aug., II. The atrlke of telegraphers which or- Igtnated last Friday tn Loa An- crlea, wher It waa directed against the Wet torn Union Com- pany. gradually spread eastward. and today reached New York City, where three spontaneous "Walk outs" followed In rapid aucceasion. Thtse were dlrect- ed against the Weatern Union, the Postal Telegraph Company and the Associated Press. In the latter Instance the str.Ua waa flrat against the new or ganlsatlon and waa fairly gener- al throughout the country, ex. ceptlpg New England. With the stopping of work by ma Jorlty of union operators here, a situation unparalleled followed; the telegraph though by no means being tied up, waa serious- ly handicapped . NEW YORK, Aug 12. Melville E. Stone, general manager of the Associated Press, replied today to the requests of the telegraphers employed by the Associated Press. These requests were: ' ' , . ' Day work Six days, eight hours: $30 per week and overtime and extra at the rate of sixty cents per hour. ' - Night work six nights, eight hours: $35 per week, and overtime and extra at the rate of seventy cents per hour. ., , I The vacations to remain as at present. " .' A proportionate increase for chiefs and subchief operators, r The telegraphers requested a reply by 7.30 o'clock this "(Monday) evening. Mr. Stone's reply follows: . ' . . , " ' New York, Aug. 12, 1907. To Operators: I received this morning a communication from a large number of the operators in the service of the Associated Press, asking for a changed scale of wages and hours and requesting a reply by half past seven o'clock this evening. - The" changes involved are so radical in their nature as to add over two hundred thousand dollars a year, and probably more to the expense of this organization. The Associated Press is mutual jn its character, makes no profits and has no surplus fund out of which such ta sum could be baid. ' Anv such increase must pi necessity be lev manager,. I have no power to make such an increase either in salaries or assessments without authority from the .'board of directors, and it is obviously impossible to call this board together within the time named. The board consists of fifteen members scattered throughout the entire country., 16 I :-"'" At the same time, acting under authority heretofore granted me by the board of directors, I shall be very glad at any time to meet a committee of our own operators and confer with them respecting hours of service and compensation with a view to making, game recommendation to the next meeting of the board of directors which shall meet any fair or just expectations of those in bur operating service. Even were I free to act, I think you must agree with me that a question of this magnitude should not be pressed to a conclusion within the limits of a few hours and without any opportunity for consultation between myself and representatives of our operating force. Angelea upon the complaint of a traf fic rhlcf that an operator was malic loutly .delaying the transmission of telegrams. 1 The follow employees of this operator asked that lie be r -Instated; when the request waa refused by the management of the office the men struck. Xatnr the men In t'hlia go and varioua other cities struck, be cause they are unwilling to work witi the non-union men employed to take the places of the striker In Js An geles., That the strike ts not Jural ru ble on this theory la proved by the fact that tha officers of the union re fused to older tha men' in ChlUago to quit work. These men acted -n their own motion. Further th-n this the ofltcera of the. union have ordered the men f. Omaha and other pUcoa to continue lo writ. i1 But it neems that matlera have gotten beyorl control of the union: tha men seem to want to strike, and many of them are aore at President aim 1 1 of the telegraphera' union because of his efforts to main tain peace. , It br certainly manifest to a thoughtful mind that a union thai refuses to permit discipline to permit discipline to b maintained, and that cannot I 'self be controlled by , those whom It has entrusted with the man agement o( Its affairs Is a rather dan geroua , organisation. Sympathetic strlkea are, aa a rule, not countenanc ed by the more conservative .unions nowadays, and are looked upon aa bad things. In several elites the striker have admitted that . they have no grievances, but How that the strike An on they appear to have many grlov ances. Aa to the salary question and hour day every, man, wants, the most favorable conflti Ions poaibl un der which to work, but. they had the assurance from President dowry of the Western Union, and General Man ager Nally of the Postal company that any man having a. grievance could bring It to (their attention and that It wouM hv oonsMeration. 1 have not heard of an Instance wherein the official Have Vailed to carry out this agreement. ; .. Now, in the first place, If the Los Angelea operator waa propnrly . dis chargedand there Is no lalm to the contrary to Insist that he be reinstat ed la to attack the discipline of the company. In the second place, a un signed) : 7 MELVILLE E. STONE, General Manager. 1 THE STRIKE ORDER GIVEN AT 8.20. AH Operators: They have decided to stop work on the Southern circuits from Oj to Nu and Texas at 8.30 Eastern time, ; ,;; j-. V WESLEY RUSSELL, 1 General Secretary Treasurer C. T. U. tf r sfimririririrBf trtrtrtrttnf iftfrififsfarrifarififififififif At 6.35. To all Operators: Mr. Stone has called for an operator from this office to talk to him on 'phone. We are going to repeat that message, ,Ourmen will say that we will stana by Russell's message and must know. ., A.P.N.Y. i " ; At 6.30 p. m. Mr. Stone says the board of directors will meet Sep tember 18 and will be glad to lay the matter'before them. Meantime he will be glad to meet a committee of his men at any time to consider theirgrievauces. At 6.40. Operators South will wait at keys until 7.30 to get message to directors from Mr. Stone. Every one voted to leave at ,7.30 tonight unless such message forthcoming- V I' 7 .- , -k : At 6.45. , . L. Atlanta says they are all ready to go out on the South ern and Western Texas circuits up to Rs at 7.30. ' f ' At 7 O'Clock. :' All Operators: I will see what I can do about getting the matter before the directors by wire tomorrow. M. E. STONE, General Manager. .v-;r- , .- - , : - , r-' At 7.45, To All Operators i Have read Mr. Stone's telegram. You should ask him when he can present the petition of. the Associated Press telegraphers to the Txard of direc tors to meet the operators request. Ask definite aswer by 7.30 tomorrow (Tuesday)p. m. Advise me of his re t)lv and await further instructions. P J- . - WESLEY RUSSELL, - General Secretary-Treasurer. HOW ASSOCIATED PRESS MEN QUIT Th foregoing bulletins 'Which pre ceded the strike of every union tele graph operator-in the South, and doubtless In the. country, tells the story of one of tha most far-reaching and disastrous strikes In the history of the labor world. The Associated Press wire In The Cltlsen office, aa well as the wires of other newspaper offtces on this circuit was closed promptly at ft. 30 last night, and the paper was thrown on its own resources to gather news . from any point which It could reach. For a time it was thought that the Weatern Un ion would be able to carry brief mes- sagca from. Washington and other points, but the futility or this hope was shown when It was discovered that the Washington wire had been left open at some point between here and the capital, and that supply waa cut off until midnight. It has to be a great calamity, however, which can cripple a newspaper entirely; tn fact. nothing short of an earthquake or an explosion can prevent a newspaper from coming out on time. ' The Citizen appeal's this morning in a rather ab breviated form, but It feels that un der the circumstances Its readers will not be Impatient. With the aid of the long distance 'phone and special telegraph messages from points not yet affected by the strike - a fair amount of news was obtained. Man ager Calvert got Into communication with- Washington shortly beforemld nlght and succeeded In getting scat tering messages from the Associated Press office. He materially helped this paper notwithstanding the fact that he had been woeking'. alzteea hours. . How long this strike will cripple th newspapers of the country cannot now be foretold, but It is thought that the Associated Press wtll not allow the present conditions to continue for any length of time. It should be un derstood that the Associated Press telegraphers have no particular grievance, their walkout being large ly a sympathetic move with the orig inators of this strike at Los Angelea. Manager CaJverfs fMatement. Manager Calvert of the local West ern Union office. In an Interview with a CttiscB representative last night said: .This strike seems fe have originat ed from the discharge of an operator in the Western Union of flee at Ixx A. P. STRIKERS WILL BE PAID UP AND FIRED Melville Stone Issues Order That Above Steps Be Im- modiately Taken. WESTERN UNION SAYS IT'S 0 K Newspapers on the Southern Circuit Came Out Fairly Well After Midnight. NEW TORK, Aug. It. The West ern Union people claimed to be doing business as usual In this city and to have all the help needed. In fact, they aald that they could not use all the men seeking employment. . On the other hand, the union men clslni that very few competent men were working and that the company wss being tied up.. The Postal people claim to have US out of a force of about 100 work ing tonight, and that they were doing buslnnsa without serious tit-lay. To this the strikers reply that tha Postal had not more than ; It operators at work. :' . i Tha strike against the Associated Proas began at I. SO o'clock (Eastern time), tonight. It waa distinct from ; (foiitliMicd on Pago TIiito.) Sl'PPOHTINfJ STIUKfcllS. (Cuntlnwed on Pago tils..) The following telegram was received early this morning by 4 all railroad - operators belonging to the O, It. T. . ' ST.. LOU1H, . Aug ,12th All operators: Do not handle' any Western I'nton business. We are atipport- Ing the C. T. V. This la a crlt- leal period all over the ' United States and Canada. " ' ' ' (Signed) ' U W.r QUICK. , v 1 . Grind Hoc. O, n. T. OPERATORS IN THE NEW YORK: OFFICES OUT xjsvat i ft . Majority of Both Western Union and Postal Men Walk Out. r SENSATIONS PROMISED IN STROUSE CASE STRIKE EXTENDED a. ' - ALL OVER COUNTRY Almost All Large Cities Af fected, But No Disorders are Reported (By AMoelatsd Cress.) NEW YUKK, Aug. lil. The strike of the lelegraulu-rs, which has af. reeled many cities throughout the country,' wua eitended to New York today, when men employed by both the Western Union and Postal com panies quit work,-, Tha Postal strikers said that 0 per cent of their men were out '. The Western Union officials ' de- claro that 80 per cent of their day force left their keys, Kxtra pultcemcn were called nut to preserve order In the vicinity nf the telegraph build ings, but there was little or no occa sion for their services. The crowds were orderly. ; ' , . The strike movement was extended during the day to Phllariolnhln, Haiti more, Huffulo, Pittsburg, , Montgom ery;!; Ala., and Havannah, ; Oa. -At Washington the Postal operators ' are out snd the Western Union men are expected to follow early tonight , Tho Walk.nut. ' At I o'clock the operators In the n-,uln oirtc-e of the Western Union S -1 - egraph company went out. riir lia1 W'tn rumiws that such mn.ii whIii contemplation, but; up to a .few. min ute before I o'clrK-k there were ' no signs of the Intended action.' At ex-' actly 1 o'clock tha .whistle .sounded through the big operating room and practically every man left hunkryv Bocretnry and Treasurer Mi'lnnryo'f the local tntngruiihcrsV Vnhm ld.thr Spicy Charges arq Made Against Chatauqua Man-. , ager at Hendersonville. INJUNCTION SUIT ; 4 IN THE U.S. COURT rv...? a. i s Pprouse Hearing Is Post J poned Until Friday, (Continued on Pngo his.) tDinrplir aensntlonal ' avldsnc I promlwd ,13 tha Injunction suit flleit Suturdsy In th U. 8. Court. by Clar ence I). Hi rouse against the Hendor Kovlll Auditorium company to tnt- lild lis ofilcora from carrying out then illcged puriHise to prevent him from repeating hi Chalsuqua series In tn house and only for the fsct that the ttorney for I'mf. . Btrouso wr u tnkvn by surprise that they were tin- bin hi make answer to the affidavit furnished them hy counsel fur the Auditorium bompuny, tha exact char ge against Prof, HI rouse would hsvs hen made puhllo yesterday .afternone t tha hearing befor Judge Prltchard in determine whether the Injunction forbidding the defendant' officers from, Interfering with plaintiff's po nsNlon, As It was, the character of the churges may b estimated by thn statement of Judge t'lms. A. Moor or counsel nf Prof, Hi rouse when he ask ed for continuance.- Ife said: "Trie chargus In these affidavits, are of so serious a nature that no one else ex cept ,Mr. Htrouse can answer tnem. No mnn guilty of the conduct he is harged with ought to be alk'wed t. conduct a Clialiuiua In any eommuti nty. This Is one of the most eertous matters I have-evur known tn any lawsuit." "". ... On flaturdicy aftornoon Mf-.tttrouse throush his fltlorncvu. Hector and hta- ron,. ('bus. I'rcncb Tome snd Moore und , Hnlllnn, filed suit and secured (Coiilluiii-d on Vhkii l ive ) WHERE THE PRESS IS POWERLESS
Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 13, 1907, edition 1
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