Loading...
The Herald, 1910-07-29, Page 6G.T.H. STRIKE SITUATION Statements by Vice -President Murdock and Manager Brownlee—Both Optimistic. Montreal despatch; The main dev opment in the Grand Trunk traiume strike to -day was the' plain declarati Made by Yiee-President Murdock, of the Brotherhood of Trainmen this even- ing that the nien would not arbitrate. "Arbitration," said Mr. Murdock, "is out of the question so far as we are con-. cerned and there will be no arbitration. The -Grand. Trunk did not talk arbitra- tion until they had nagged the men to a finish and then they talked it in such a way as to offend the decency of the men and we will have none of it; The matter has now reached the end of all arbitration, it is being arbitrated by the public and all concerned, and so it will 'be fought out, and we have no doubt at all as to the final result." e17 igen protected to the fullest extent. n's If. we lose- .but what is the use • of on supposing sueh a contingency as this. "We're going to win," he said con- fidently, When speaking of the superannua- tion phase of the question, Mr. Mur - ,dock told of one conductor who in 15 months would be eligible for his pension, calling on him the night the strike was called and assuring hits that, opposed as he was to a strike, if at all to be avoided, he was . with the men to the finish. "I could cite many cases of a similar nature," said Mr. Murdock. "The loyalty of the men in the crisis has been admirable," Referring to the fact that several Ng lumber mills had been compelled to close down because of the strike, Mr. Murdock said: "To know that this fight of ours for what we consider to be our rights involves others and deprives men of their means of livelihood is a matter of unspeakable regret to all of us, am very, very sorry that others must suffer, but it cannot be helped. With us it is the vital principle of self-preser- vation that we are standing out for. We must either fight now or be reduced to a state of thraldom in the future, and we cannot as •men submit to the latter. Look over the history of our organiza- tion and see whether it is blotted with the calling of senseless or arbitrary strikes. If we have erred at all in the past, it is on the side of over -passive- ness. In the present fight we are stand- ing for our rights in the way of a de- cent living wage." DIVIDENDS HAVE GROWN. BOTk SIDES SATISFIED. Both sides still profess satisfaction. The company is gaining ground, but slowly. To -day it operatedmore passen- ger trains and with better results. This afternoon a, start was made on the re- storation of the local suburban service and a couple of freights were made up 'and sent out, but as the officials ex- plained, most of the freight work done was in getting te yards in condition to handle business when it was taken up in earnest. There is no fear of a meat or milk famine in Montreal. Most of the milk supply is handled on Grand Trunk local trains, those from the most important districts not having been handicapped in the least by the strike, while the C. P. R. is amply sufficient to provide all the cattle required for local consump- tion, even should the Grand Trunk not move any freight for weeks. The fruit busines is the only one that is suffering locally so far. THE COMPANY'S STATEMENT. The following official statement was given out to -day by the Grand" Trunk management: "Things are moving as well' as could be expected along the line. News from Toronto this morning is es- pecially encouraging, regular passenger trains on the 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th districts of the middle division all left Toronto on time, as did the Toronto - Port Hope train on the northern divi- soin. The train for North Bay was only a few minutes late leaving the Union Station. On the western division tonings are in splendid shape. All passenger trains are running to -day, including the suburban trains between Harvey and Chicago. 'Two more of the old conduc- tors on the western division reported Sex. duty this morning . and took out their trains. . "At Niagara Falls, where an ex -con- ductor is chief of police, and other muni- cipal officials are ex-employees, there has been some violent demonstrations. A conductor was brutally assaulted there grist night. Naturally being un- armed, he wee powerless to protect him- self against the mob. An Is]and Pond also a mob delayed a passenger train for some time, but no serious damage was done. The proper authorities have been notified, and doubtless they will take some steps at least to prevent law- lessness. "On the whole the management is well satisfied with the situation. Their passenger trains are moving out. They" are well patronized and in this way the public shows its confidence. "Some live stock and perishable freight was moved last night and preparatisns are being made to re- sume freight traffic again in the very near future. "On the Central 'Vermont our re- ports show that the passenger trains are proving well out, and things are in excellent shape on the Eastern Division, which includes the Montreal to Portland service." "EVERYTHING SPLENDID," - Vice -President Murdock, of the trainmen in a statement to -day said: "Everything is going splendidly. We are more than satisfied with the result of the first day of the strike •and are confident of the ultimate issue." Mr, Murdock stated that he had received several advices from• points in the west that engineers weave being pressed into service as guides for trains in come mand of inexperieaeed conductors. "If the Grand Trunk persists in do- ing this, Nye will take steps to stop it at once," said Mr. Murdock. ""The ,Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers will not countenance work of this ,kind. And we shall bake good earl; to call their attention to it." On the Ihtercolonial and other outside. lines running wirer the Grand Trunk, he stated, efforts were being made to force the train crews to make up their own trains owing to the lack of yardmen. This, however, had been unsuccessful as the men ha,d 'been warned not to do more than fell to the ordinary ditties. Said Mr. Mur- dock: "We have wired all points where this condition of thing exists, 'telling our men, who are on othee roads than the Grand Trunk, that 'they are supposed to do their duty towards their companies to the letter, 'but that theyy must not do more than they would 'in the orclinnry way." When questioned as to the effort the participation in a strike would have on the superaeinuation rights of older employees, Mr. Murdek said that this would depend altogether on the final result of the. struggle, If Aloe men wan the (natter would be easily settled and the rights of the Mr. Murdock then went on to dis- cuss the financial condition of the railway company, and pointed out that since 1590 the dividends paid by the road had grown from $1209,149 to $1,- 100.139, t-100.1:,9, an increase of over 244 per cent: "Have the wages of the train erews and yardmen kept pace with this?" he asked. "In this period the men have remained practically stationary, and its about time for a change." He then produced a document show- ing that from 1890 to 1307 the company has spent over $552.000.000 on new rolling stock, double -tracking , buildings. new bridges. terminals. etc. Of t]t'. amount only $17.677,927 had been to' capital account, the balance ut of the revenue of the 'road. pany that can do this c• give its men the same a. do. I'm tired of all this t , Cie: poor fiaancia.l condition o . "' Trunk," Mr. Murdock cones "ir well axiom t Bring, q�. n I detailed state/neat oa the progress on each, division; Un our Eastern division, between Portland ai.td Montreal, we are' i'itn• ning it schedue passenger .trains. .h ere was a ;et .ialatndl'ond. ,est night; (11' striking (;onduetor W. G. Baird, of • Portland, was arrested and put in jail fur Interfering with the movements of trains. All our train sor- e'iee was maintained between Q xebec• and Riehmo:id, with through connections fel Montreal, -`Oa the territory between Montreal and Toronto ,all the regular passenger service was maintained and one train of live stock and perishable freight left. Belleville for • 1+fontrcal. We also had one train of 20 ears of perishable freight leave Montreal at 13.4u p, rn: for Port. land. At this hour it is reported' at Island Pond. There was some disturb- ance in the Montreal yards, and striking Conductor Robinson was arrested and put in jail 'for _intimidating and ob- structing the police. There was no dis- turbance at' any other point between. Montreal and Toronto. '•On the Middli; division we ran all. regular main line trains on time, and as indicating our progress we were able to run passenger' trams each way on all branch lines north of Stratford. In fact the only portions of the Middle division that we were linable to provide with passenger ,service were those be- tween Elmira and Galt, between Port Rowan and Simeoe, between Port Dal- hcusie and' Port Colborne and between Brantford' and 'Tillsonbur'. We hope to have passenger service on all the lines 'to -morrow and possibly move some freight 'trains, "$uperintend,ent Cunningham wires me from Niagara Fails at 11 p. m, that ail passenger trains in and out of Nia- gara Falls, both Grand Trunk and Wa- bash, have moved emetically on time, and that he has. a lunge number of new trainmen applying 'run position. He sayu that as a eonssenence he will be able to handle freigi;t trains as soon as the connecting distrie is can take care of them. `'On_ -,'our Ottawa division, according to a report from S ip �rintendent Don- aldson at 10.30 p. ni., ail paseenger trains between ;Montreal and Ottawa moved on time; likewise the New York trains between Ottawa and Swanton in connection with the Rutland railway, Two full crews of switchmen are in the Ottawa yards cleaning up and getting ready to resume the movement of freight. One passenger train each way between Ottawa and Pembroke was run and he expects the full service of two trains each way to•nmorrow. Re has many applications and is sending the men on the train* to learn the road. There was no disturbance up to 11 o'clock last night. "On our Western division a report ted 10.55 states the" the full passen- sel�,ietes haven fu illed on. iL &ince e"Sa it's'and"..gat to -day were running at' of the suburban ai r . ,hains between � a p<,raiso, Harvey and Chicago. We have full crews to start wo switching engiiea at the Port Ru - rem yards .to-morro.v. I expect to start nc• way freight and one merchandise freight westbound before 10 a. m. There re plenty of applications, and the new men are learning the roadandbeingas- igned.• to sere�ice as fast as theycanwrite up the examination books. We ave not had any trouble on the West- rn or middle divisions except the dis- urbance • at Niagara Falls, Ont., and uspsnsion Bridge, N. Y., where a. gang of rowdies assaulted Superintend- nt Cunningham. On our Northern di- ision we had train service in both di- ections on each of the branch lines, and all service on the main line between To - onto and North Bay, exeept that we onsolidated the Huntsville and Musko- a trains that leave here at noon." "Are you not afraid that you will se your freight engineers who are aid by mileage and are consequently not' e.tt.ing any money now?" Mr. Brownlee as asked. "Most of our enginemen are men who ave grown up with the service, and by ason of home and family ties would of care to leave our service on account f the loss of time they are sustaining y reason of the tying up of the .freight affic," he answered. NO MEN IMPOR Thh question of men coma rrr�'ont t the United States to take up" trae�work of those who bad joined in the strike o was discussed to -day by the strikers' a legal representatives. Is the feet that men are corning from the other side of s the line a contravention of the labor law? The strikers say yes, and the company no. The strikers say that men are be- e ing employed on the Ignited States side t to come into Canada and work. The S company says "no such thing" They say ,that men have heard of the possible e trouble for weeks past and came to Can- ada on expectation of work. and now r are making application for employ,,,.out. f It is also pointed out that the' -Grand r Trim]; is international. It can hire men e, in Chicago and also in Portland. These l` men come into Canada' and report to the headquarters of the company and lo. are given their assignment. That is not P a breach of the international law, say g the company's .representatives, tv At the office of Mr, 13.- E. Whitten. hernial., superintendent of the Eastern h Division of the road, there were to -day re about three hundred men asking for em- ployment. In one instance ,eighteen men o were told that they would" be needed. ]' Eighty in one block were engaged, and is the work of considering applications is now going on. It was stated by rep- resentatives of the company that in no ease had a man been imported to work for them. N SITUATION R8ViEWED. Manager Brownlee Pleased With the Way Things Are Going in Ontario. Conflicting statements regarding the progress of the industrial struggle be- tween the G.T.R. Company and its strik- ing employees were made late last night by representatives of the two parties. "Good news," was what Mr. W. G. Brownlee, general transportation man- ager of the a.Tal., called the reports from the various superintendents of di- visions 'which he wis receiving until a late. hour last night at the Grand Trunk despatchers' office.' "We aregaining ground every hour," he told a representative at 11 c'cloek last night, "And I shall be very much dis- appointed if we are not in a position to resume handling freight in considerable ctuantitics before the end of the week. The delay now is -in instructing the new men in our rules and in having them write up our examination books, which of necessity is slow work. Owing to the fact that what we term standard rules are in effeet on nearly all railway lines on the continent we find it is a mere matter of form for the men to waits there- exam ]natien be s," 1 , A STATEMENT 1N DETAIL. Mr. Brownlee then g;tve the following THE ' CORONATION. Royal Proclamation of the Event to Be Held Next June, London, July 25. The picturesque ceremony attendant upon the accession of King George was re-enacted to -day when the various officers of arms pro- claimed His Majesty's pleasure that the coronation of the King and Queen take place in June, 1911, on a day to be lat- ter determined. Sir Alfred Scott, Scott-Gatty, Garter Xing of Arms, mounted the colon/tile of the Friary Court in St, James Palace and read the royal proclamation. group- ed about hint were the officers of arms, the high bailiff of Westminster, and the Life Guards. The Duke of .Connaught and other members of the royal family looked on from Marlborough House. The proceedings were repeated at Charing Cross and at Temple Par, where admittance to the ancient city of Lon- don was solemnly demanded, and the at the royal exchange, The Naples authorities are holding Alexander Hollander, wanted in .New. York in connection 'with the custom. house frauds, pending a requea9it from Washington for his extradition. It is expected that the request will he made and granted forthwith _-. FARMERS LOOK FOR HIH PRICES Grain Crops n Ontario Are Above the Average, �r While Wheat Reports From West Are Unfavorable. Combination of Circumstances Which. Pleases Grain Growers, (Hamilton, Ont., Despatch.) Plentiful crops in Ontario- and a paucity in the -west is the grain situa- tion as viewed by the local dealers. Not for many years past has there been so keen an interest exhibited in the local crops as there is at the present time, and practically everyone concerned is e:>pee'tant of high prices for the Ontario produce. The unfortunate weather conditions in the west, where area after area of wheat and other grains has been destroyed by the intense heat, Will prove a boon for the local farmers as far as the demand for their produce is concerned. Although during the past few clays rain has fallen in various parts of the western pro- vinces the dealers are assured that the crops in a Iarge number of the localities there had been damaged too extensively to be recuperated by the slight amount of rain. It is not thought now, how- ever, that the yield ofthe west will be as small as was as expected a few weeks ago, but that the supply will be below the demand is demonstrated by the high price that western wheat is bringing in its own centre, Winnipeg, where $1.14 per bushel is the ruling pricethe same as it has been bringing in Liverpool. Wheat has been advanced to the above high price only grace the beginnuing of the weather scare, pre- vious to which it sold at as low as 92 and 93 cents. Conditions similar to those in the Canadian west exist in the northwestern States, and the mills in. Minnesota and other States are se- curing most of their grain from Canada. Although the yield of Ontario is small when compared to that of the North- west, the dealers predict that it will play an important part this fall in the making of the prices. Although Ontario has not suffered nearly as mush as the west, large por- tions of wheat were destroyed early, is .spring by the wire worm, tho arm and dry weather giving them a. Mat 'advantage to work on the wheat ant, with the result that: in some sec- tions of the country much of it is spot- ted and patchy. As a whole, however, the crops look well, and in the good. parts will give an excellent yield. Re- ports indicate that the acreage for On- tario wil be somewhat more than last year. As to the prices of wheat this fall, the dealers say that it is practically impossible for then to make any near estimate, as for weeks past the grain market has been fluctuating very free- ly. To -day wheat is bringing $1.04 a bushel, an advance of 12 cents on the price quoted a week ago, and the present indications are that, if anything, it will continue to advance. The shortage of - the western crops twill necessitiate the use of Ontario grain, with the result that nothing but high prices are ex- pected to rule. The yield of Ontario' oats is expected to be a good average one. The early sown oats in some sections of the pro- vince have been destroyed by the white grub and mucic of it had to be sown the second time, but it is looking fairly well now. At the present time oats is bringing 43 cents a bushel with a ten- dency towards higher prices. The acreage of barley outside of the usual sections is small this year, al- though no large shortage is expected. What there is of it, however, is looking exceptionally well and will give a Yield of good quality. The pea crops, not only In. Ontario but in the west, are exceptionally fine, and a good yield is expected, while the bean and corn sections are also yielding large crops --much larger than last year. The timothy hay crop is a poor yield. The white grub did eons'derable dam- age to meadows and pastures ort high lands. 1a some sections the late rains have improved the meadows to a large. extent. In nearly all lines Ontario seems to be favored with good ,fruit crop conditions. Apples, plums and other fruit crops are reported to be. in a fair •condition v?ith prospects of good crops, 'erupt in a few sections. The Ontario farmers are feeling prosperous at the present time as nearly everything they produce is bringing high prices, BIG INCREASE. June Trade Totalled Sixtysix Million Dollars. Ottawa, July 25.—The total trade of Canada for ,lune was $60,000,000, an increase of $10,354,023 over June of last year. For the first quarter of the pre- sent fiscal year the total trade has been $171,173,690, a Comparative increase' of $30,600,000, or over 25 per cent, Imports for June totalled $39,705,237, an increase of $8,303,075 over June of last year. For the three months imports tutallcd $1.09,384,187, an increase of $27,. 201,097, Exports of domestic produces for the quarter totalled $5.7,048,937, an increase f $S,321.,J3 e,3 . <r o . The principal increase in imports was in agricultural products, which show a betterment of nearly six millions as com- pared with the .corresponding period of last year. The customs revenue for June was $5,800,906, aud for the three months $10,508,411, increases of $1,004,047 and $3,675,352 respectively. CROP REPORT. Very Poor in Manitoba and Very Good in Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, July 25.—The weekly crop report of the Canadian Northern de- velops little, if anything, new conceia- ing the general situation. For the first time the railway company admits that the situation throughout southern Man- itoba is very serious; but this is looked upon as merely : paving the way to an admission that the crops are almost en- tirely destroyed in this part of the Pro- vince. Detailed reports from the differ- ent districts are in many cases hopeless, while in other parts, notably in north- ern Saskatchewan, they bear out prev- ious repofts to the effect that the crops are in excellent condition and pro- mise a large yield. -♦ ALBERTA CROP Automobile Tour of Spruce Grove, Stoney Plain and Other Districts. Farmers Pleased With Prospects-- A Record Crop. In order to secure accurate data. on crop conditions in the territory of which Edmonton is the hub, the Ed- monton Board of Trade recently de- cided to conduct a number of automo- bile tours through the district, cover- ing in all some thousand miles of terri- tory. There will be six tours in all and of these the first two, designated as A and B started on July 14th,. The representatives of the board on tour 13 were A. B. Canipbiell, of Campbell Ottowell, millers of that city, and John Blue, of the Provincial _Agricultural Department, who has wide experience in. crop judging and who is considered au authority on the subject. This party left the city in Scott Bros. motor car and returned, after having covered some ninety miles. during which they interviewed twenty-one farmers and secured reports from fifteen more. The members of the party examined sam- ples from. approximately 800 acres of fall wheat and from 900 acres of spring wheat. During their entire trip they did not find a single farmer who was inclined to be other than optimistic. From their observations and from infor- mation received from .farmers interview- ed, the estimated yield of fall wheat is placed at twenty-seven bushels per acre and spring wheat at twenty-three. This, if realized, and from the present stage of maturity there is no reason to think otherwise, will be slightly in ex- cess of the record over the entire pro- • vince for the past few years. Reports from the representatives of the board on the anther tours will be published in the Times as soon as the parties return. Mr. Blue, in his description of the tour, points out that the farmers visited were very optimistic and regard condi- tions as ideal, if anything, a little bete terthan in previous years. They feel confident that they will harvest a bump- er crop, the best in years. Fall wheat has been a very successful crop and a greater acreage than in pre- vious years will be reaped. A large amount of hreakig has been done and is still in progress, which goes €t show the faith the farmer has in the did- trict and also guarantees that even a larger acreage will be --under crop .next year. Fall wheat, in the words of the farm- er: "A magnificent ,crop this year." re. se KILLING SHEEP. Farmers in North Addington Losing Their Stock By Bears. ltingston despatch: At Vennaeha;r, In the northern part of Aidington, the bears have been busy, and as a re - suit some farmers 'are mourning the loss of stock. Robert. Comer lost one of his sheep, and indications around the slice fold. pointed plainlyto bruin as the perpetrator. About the 'same time John E. Irish, a neighbor, found that two of his sheep bacl been carried off in the same way. Lee Wilson, an- other neighbor, saw three stabs disport- ing around with their mother near his field one day last week, Eight or. nine ,artillerymen were in- stantly killed and a. number injured at ]ort Monroe; Va., ht target practice early to -day. Details have not been re- ce.Ived,