New-York tribune. [volume], August 26, 1916, Image 1

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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First to Last?the Truth: News ? Editorials - Advertisements
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CIRCULATION
Over 100,000 Daily
Net Paid, Non-Returnable
Vou LXXVI No. 25.48(5.
I< OpTTl.ht 1B1B?
Tho Tribune Wi'n |
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1916.
? * *9
ONE CENT
ln New Toek rilf. Vewark,
Jorofll < il? nnd llobokea.
President's Railroad Plan Fails;
Strike Situation at Gravest Crisis
??*>
ALLIES ROLL
BACK BULGARS
ON STRUMA
Serbs and Russians
Advance on West
Flank Points.
GREEK TOWNS
ARE MENACED
Athens in Turmoil as Re
of Attacks
Are Heard.
ports
London. Aug. 25.?The Entente
forces ir. Macedonia, rallying apainst
the counter attacks which were bend
ing back both of their flanks, have
foreed th-1 Buljrars to retire at sev?
eral pointfl. Thee first Bulgar blows
evident'.y found weak spots in the
Allied line, but these paps were filled
and the counter blows checked.
Britiak cavalry patrols have push-.d
btyo-id the Struma on the right flank
of Bairall- army and destroyed three
IflMgflfl B*arf the Angista. east of
i lake. This would seem to
indicate that the passage of the
Stru-na are =sti 11 held by th? Allied
forces arid that an attack in this sec?
tor mi, prove untimately to force the
retirement of the Bulgara moving
toward the Aegean coast.
Serbs Continue Advance.
The Serbs, aided by the Russians on
: ri end of the line, are also
i:\ancing to the attack. They have
luccceded in winning more ground in
vhhorhood of Lake Ostrovo and
I alted thc Bulgar offensive south
(,'" Florina. In the centre of their line
they arc forcing the enemy back toward
the border.
The Freneh official statement to
Bagkt reports that as yet Kavala and
Brania have not been attacked,
thouph Jhe Bulgars apparently are
| f.rward toward the Aegean
coast.
Volunteers continue to flock to the
colors. The commander at Seres. who,
according to last reports, was defyine
the order of his superiors and resir-t
Itip itaaehljr the advance of the Hul
p_,r?. !...- reo !ved many recruits. The
continued march of the invader doubt
lr-- \..II i.ring many more troops to
the Greek leaders.
flflgaiSflfl the menace in the
Pulgar a.hance. Dispatches from Bar
I Ich still lack contirmation, state
tha*. ihe Germans have ordered the
Eulgats ?< evacuate Greek territory,
on thr jriound that a further advan-e
into Macfldaaia will rouse the Greeks
into war on thc side of the Kntent.
AlllflS. Hut* the Bulgar renerals ap?
parently l.ave tlecided to ignore any
luch orders and are pushing on.
There came no indication to-day of
a chanpe in Rumania's attitude. Re?
port. oi Raasiaa mobili/ation on her
border aad the massing of large forces
on the Daaabfl for a thrust from the
rinlgaria have been followed
urmation as tfl when
tris drive i. to be launched.
Greece Centre of Interest.
For tk? moment Greece is the centre
of interest. .Military observers here
f?l that her move will determine
Ruchare.-t's attitude in large part. Thus
to-da> ? tion ii this: Can Cob
BtaatiBC, under the continued Bulgar
keep his people in check?
The : , r.i (Jt-termined to take
Kava:?. Foi tr.i-m it is the only aCfljan
port ?? .? fl, By the terms
,-nded the first Baik..ri
*ar, they received Dedeaghatch. which
i? ?t beat an itiferior port. Kavala lies
r-outf. ,,? Sofla, and the railway down
am.. Valley links it up with the
Bulptr capital.
U-Liner Bremen Taken,
English Officer Says
Tht German merchant submarine
*|r-men v\as raptund la a steel net in
,h'- Straits of liover and thirty-three
fc' her citw were taken prisoners, ac
cor<i:r..' to a atorjr told jrefltflrday by an
offi-?r of tkfl Hritish Ro\al Naval Re
?*rv*. recentlv Bflnriag in the North
?**? patrol who arrived on the Baltic,
of the Wt,*. star Line. The oftioi's
??nie cantrol be divulged, but Captain
"nch. commander of the Baltic, ad
m'?ed that bfl. too, hud heard the ru?
mor.
The Royal Naval Reserve officer said
??t th. Bremen was on her way to
Ameriea hr.d submerged in the dang< r
?""?'* ni the Straits of Dovflr to avoid
"ritish patrol boats. and as sne dove
*"? of her propelltrs caught in the
*}**\ mesh net. As her stern sank her
oow l,fttd out of wuter HIHi the crexv
??me Up from be'.r.w and took refuge
" ?tr? ur'?'l a patrol boat arrived.
? Y* officer haid that the reason the
1. i \ K"v? rr.nient had remained fll
"nt about the capture was that the
"A""" Admiralty hoped to trap the
A? -, tr*n?tlan.ic submarine. the
^'rika, which. it (a believed. took the
kr... Uj ,hf n'-)rth ?t Scotland. Patrol
0?"* as arai] ,? \&Tgf. numbers of Bteel
touilnued ea pa?e ?, colturaa t \
6 Zeppelins Bombard
London Twice; 8 Dead
Defences Are Irmdequate, Berlin Declares?Hundred
Bombs Dropped in Two Nights?-One of
Raiders Believed Super-Dirigible.
Berlin, Aug. 25. London has been
shelled by Zeppelins twice in the last
two nights, the War Office announced
to-day. This is regarded as demonstrat
ing that the British cannot guard ade
cuately against airship raids, for Lon
con's defences have been strengthened
greatly. according to recent British an
Vouncements.
The first announcement says merely:
I ' Durinj. the night of Wednesday the
I fort of London was attacked by one
; of our airships." The second announce
| ment says that the city nnd southwest
ern district of London were bombarded
Thursday night "with very good re
j suits." This statement follows:
"Thursday night several naval diri
. giblcs attacked the southern portion
, of the English east coast, abundantly
bombarding the city and southwestern
^district of London; batteries at the
; naval vantage points of Harwich and
Folkestone and nummerous vessels at
the xvharf at Dover. Kverywhere very
good effects xvere observcd.
"All the airships, both goinjr and re
; turning, wcA heavily but unsucccss
WOMAN SHOOTS
GUARD CAPTAIN
Killed Georgia Doctor to
Avenge Insult, Her
Husband Says.
IB>- M_flNfB tf, The Trll.unr ]
Macon, Ga., Aug. 25. Mrs. H. C.
Adams, wife of a laundryman of At?
lanta. Ga., stood outside the tent of
Captain K. J. Spratling, of the 5th In?
fantry. National Guard of Georgia, cn
camped here, to-day, nnd when the ofn
cer apperred shot him twice through
the body.
Captain Spratling, who f/afl an eye. ear
nose and throat specialist of Atlanta,
dropped dead, nnd the woman calmly
turned the revolver over to those who
leaped for her and suffere 1 herself to
bc led away without protest.
"It Had to Be Done."
"I hated to do it," she said quietly,
i "but it had to be done."
Mrs. Adams was placed in thc cuard
housc at Camp Harris until Sheriff
| Hicks took her into custody.
She is to-night in Bibb County jail
nnd has refused steadfastly to mnke
any statement.
Her husband, however, when BS
' prised to-night in Atlanta of wha- she
had done, appeared little surprise! nnd
gave as her motive impropcr advnnres
; on thc part of the physieian when she
had gone to him for treatment.
Husband Defendn Woman.
"I didn't kne-w she was j_oinjr ,'o do
it," Adams said, "and I hnd trie.i my
best to persuade her not to tak ? any
i.etion. She told me all about it when
she came home from the dortor's < Tice.
1 advised her then to keep fhe m.itter
:ecret.
"She threatened to expose the man,
and he laugh.ed at her. It became a
nightmare to her. and I believe that
it unbalanced her reason. She had
every right in the world to kill him if
she chose."
The woman an.l her husband lived
xvith their three children ifl a Httlfl
house in Lovejoy Street. This morn?
ing the wife left the house and *ook
the train for Macon, arriving there
shortly before noon. She at once made
her way tfl the mobilization camp and
asked lo be directed to Captain Sprat
] linf's tent.
She had the revolver concealed under
' a wrap and she aimed carefully and
deliberately xvhen she tired. Those
who stood'about her say she shouted
something abi-ut "ruining my home"
us she pulled the trigger.
Captaia Spratling, who was forty
seven years aM and mariied, was onfl
ef the foremost specialiMs of Georgia.
}Ie was well known in Atlanta society
nnd an expert on insi.t.ity For n time
he xvas attached to the sanitarium at
' Matteawan.
Camp Mourns Victim.
Flags xvere placed at half mast in the
' rrobiluation camp tO-alffkt and prepa?
ration* are being made tfl take the of
licer back to Atlanta under military
escort. His associates in the regiment
nay that the woman had come to him
for treatment for nervous di?orders
and that her unbalanced mind had led
her to think that the physieian had, bv
Iris examination, made improper ao
vances toward her.
The woman is thirty vears old and
Bflt espeeially attr_.ctiv? Ifl appearanee.
OfleiaFfl flt tlie county Jail said to-night
that she appeared calm and normal in
mind. Her husband arill arrive here
to-morrow nnd tell his story of why
his wife shot down the _oldi_r to the
county prosecutor.
fully shelled by numerous guarding
forces. During their attack they were
fired on by anti-aircraft batteries. All
have returned."
Fleet of Six Zeppelins
Raids England, Killing 8
[llj Cat.!- tn Th-. Tribun- 1
London, Aug. 25.-Covered by the
darkness of a cloudy ard windless :
night, a fleet of six Zeppelins raided
I the east nnd southeast coasts of
Kngland between midnight and 3 ,
o'eloek this morning. The fliers
dropped one hundred bombs, killing '
: eight persons and injuring thirty-six.
Oafl of the airships-and possibly
another reached the city of London
Itaelf, breaking through the elaborate j
system of defences onstructed by thc I
Air Board, of which Sir John French
is the head. Not since October, 1915, !
when fifty-five persons were killed and ;
? onc hundred and fourteen injured, ha*
the War Office reported a Zeppelin at
| tack on the eapital.
One of the coast raiders, it is be- i
-
Contlntirri on pace 3, rolumn 3
FLIES 660 MILES
IN 520 MINUTES
U. S. Aviator Sets World Record
for Carrying Passenger.
Newport News, Va., Aug. 55. A new :
world's record for distance covered in ?
ten hours, carrying a passenger, was
1 made to-dty by Victor Carlstrom, of
: the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Sta
I tion, who flew fifil miles in a Curtiss
I twin motor land and water machine.
His actual flying time was 8 hours and
40 minutes 520 minutes.
Officials of the F.tation expect
Carlstrom's feat to win the Curtiss '
Aviation Cup, which was awarded last
year for a flight of less than 500
miles. They said the other prizes or
, bonuses won by the aviator to-day
would amount to $7,000.
The machine's engines were stopped
I only twice during the day. A heavy
! fog made steering by the compass
necessary. The flight was made in
| laps of fifty miles each, covering a
trip from the station to Fisherman's
H'land and return.
H. C. WILLCOX'S SON,
18, DIES OF PLAGUE
_
Had Lately Rpturned from
Plattsburg in Good Health.
Stannard Anderson Willcox, only son
af Henry ('. Willcox, vice-president and
feneral r-olicitor of the American
Sarety Company, died yesterday a vic
, tom ef infantile paralysifl in the" home
of his father, ">o3 West Knd Avenue.
He was eighteen years old, a graduate
| of the Cutlor School, and had passed
hil < ntrance examination for Princeton.
; His career had been planned for him
by hil father, who has been twenty
five years an official of thc American
Sflrcty Company. His son was to fol
, low in hia foot.steps.
It was not until Tuesday that the
young man was stricken. He had been
home only two weeks from the Junior
Camp at Plattsburg, and had returned
in the most rugged health. Since his
return, although hc had done some mo
' toring, he had never passed a night
away from home, nor had he stopped at
any town on his trips.
ABE SPINS A YARN NOT
WISELY, BUT TOO WELL
Division Street Youth Fails to
Convince Judge About That $6.
His tense features still reminiscent
of harrowing experience, Abie Levine
i rose in the Children's Court yesterday
and be_aii his story.
"Well, judge," said he, "I was on my
i way to Beekman Street with that $6
' v.hen suddenly the giant figure of a
man hurtl?-d from a doorway and held
me fast. He clapped ? swarthy hand
over my mouth to stifle outcry. In a
a trice I r.-ahzed I was in his power.
He dragged me in"
"One moment," interrupted Judge
Hoyi "Haven't you been reading tic
tion lately?"
Abie, who is thirteen years old and
1 lives at 143 Division Street, admitted
i he had just finished a volume in which
j the youthful hero suffered a like ex?
perience. ,.__?.
"I thought so," said the court.
"Now, what did you do with that $6?"
Receiving BO answer, the court found
the boy ginltv, but postponed sentence
until August 28. Harry Schaflm, of
30 Canal Street. a book dealer, was the
lomplainant. He said he guve young
I.evine $<* on Wednesday to make a ,
purchase. He had not seen the boy
until next day, and has not aeen thej
(G yet
BRITISH CLEAR
WAY FOR JOINT
COWBLESDRIYE
Closes on Guillemont,
Links Line with
Foch's.
BRILLIANT DASH
WON MAUREPAS
Rapid Advance of Poilus
Surprised Prince Eitel's
Troops.
By FRED B. PITNEV.
I Ht Cablf? to Tli- TriNin- 1
Paris. Aug. 25.- The British drove
forward c-astward and northward to?
day, in the first movement closing on
Girchy and Guillemont, and in the
second on Flers. This advance joins
up their line with the French, who
seized the important strategic base of
Maurepas yesterday.
In the brilliant dash which foreed
the French line well beyond the out
skirts of Maurepas, General Fayolle
did his part toward the capture of
Combles. When Haig succeids in a
similar movement at Guillemont they
will drive forward together to the apex
of the triangle formed by Maurepas,
Guillemont anti Combles.
Thfl Britiah gains to-day prepared
the way for this movement. They ad
vanced their line in the eastern and
northern edges of the Delville wood,
northwest of Guillemont, and then re
pelled a heavy counter attack. Further
rorth they moved forward several
yards on ench side of the load running
out of Longueval toward Flers.
Haig Moving on Flera.
Haig's troops now have the advan?
tage of advancing downhill toward
! F'.crs. This village presents strong
defences, though they are hardly of
the character of Guillemont. It is
likc'y that progress will be faster in
this direction and that the French
victory at MaurcpBS soon will be
equalled by Haig.
At the opening of the Somme offen?
sive Maurepas was a magic name, rep
resenting the chief fortifications of the
German line between the French troops
and the promised land. Since then it
has iost some of its glamour. its ulti?
mate fall before the French artillery
preparation having become certain dur?
ing the last fortnight, when it was the
object. of relentless assaults by Foch's
troops and guns.
On August 11 Foch's staff showed it
was ready to make a bid for this
stronghold, and every day and night
.ince then Maurepas has received a
drubbing such as no town has ever be?
fore suffered. Although its spectracu
lar importance faded as the fate of the
village became more and more certain,
its strategic importance as a barner to
Combles remained the same until the
last detail of defensive work was in
possession of the poilus for Maurepas
is perched on the edge of thc heights
whirh guard the communications feed
ing this portion of the front.
Koads Screened by Fortifications.
On a lower level runs a road and a
little railway from the Fortreas of
Combles, which is the most important
reserve and provision centre of this
sector. These thoroughfares are
screened by German works north of
the village, and traffic has continued
with comparative impunity.
The Krench reached Maurepas bytne
end of July, and by August 11 had be?
gun cutting their way through the un
derground strongholds prepared dur?
ing the last two yeara. Yesterday at 5
o'eloek they fixed their bayonets and
eharged the last defences, crossing the
holes and ruina which had been Maure
(ontlnu-d ob pa?e 3. rolumn I
WIRES KILL 3;
MAN GIVES HIS
LIFE FOR BOYS
Calmly EntersSearing
Arcof 11,000 Volt
Current.
KNEW HE FARED
TO SURE DEATH
Women Scream as Big
Crowd Watches
Tragedy.
John Fulton died yesterday trying to
save the lives jf four little boys.
Fulton j;ave his life willingly. He
xvas an inspector of the Union Railway
Company, of The Bronx. He knew
clectricity and hc must have known,
when he began to climb thc burning
freight car upon which stood tour small
bodflfs, rigid in the grip of an 11,000
volt current, that hc xvas going to his
death. Yet he climbed. Two of the
boys are dead, also, but the other two
will recover.
Fulton was in West Farms Square
when he heard srreaming and the snap
and cracklc of a heavy current of elec
trieity from the New York, New Haven
| Hartford freight ya.ds, a hundred
yard? away. With a er?.wd of nvin and
women, he ran to the Tremont Avenue
bridge, which spans thc yard.
Crowd Sees Hero Killed.
Below, on the tracks, a freight car,
one of a long string, wis bursting into
I flames. In the haze of smoke, Fulton
I could see four small boys huddled to
I gether on top of the car. Their bodies
j jerked and trembk-d, for the hands of
two were clutched on a wire overhead
I end through the bodies of the four
an 11,000-volt current was pouring. It
i had set fire to the car and was sloxvly
: criving the life out of George Raynor
| and I-inald RBBBfl, nine and twelve
years old, who held the wire, and Carl
Lehmann, ten, and his brother. Ernest.
, nine. who were held to the other boys
: bv thc force of thc current.
'Women on the bridge screamed. Men
shouted and di 1 nothing. Fulton
vaultcd the paranct and dropped twelve
feet to the roof of a boxcar below.
Hc slid off this and ran down the
length of the string to the burning car.
Then he climbed toward where the
current buzzed and shot green sparks
above.
Body Hauled from Car.
The crowd on the bridge saw him die.
They say he never hesitated, but when
he r.-ached the roof ol the burning car
crouched an.' sbrang. He knew a flying
tackle was his only hope of breaking
the mute, contorted little group on the
car top from the grip of the current.
He struck either Raynor or Russo.
Those on the bridge saw a flash of
ftame and saw Fulton's body throxvn
1 off by the force of the electricity and
hurled to the tracks below.
Meantime a call had been sent in for
an emergency crew, ambulances and
fire engines. Men with rubber gloves
climbed throu.rh the flames and man
aged to tear the bajys free. The lire
was quickiy extinguished.
George Raynor, who lived at 20. a
Third Avenue, was dead v.hen they
, brought him down. Donald Russo, of
Itf] Bryant Street, died after being
taken to the Fordham Hospital, with
Krnest and Carl Lehmann, of 1025 East
' lSoth Street, who were seriously
1 burned, but will recover. They were
later removed to their homes.
I'layed on Top of Cars.
Ernest told Coroner Flynn the four
I had been swimming in the Bronx River.
' and began to play hidc and seek on
tha car tops afterward. Then all he
remembers is a big fiare of green light.
i The boys' bodies were *8till flrflt from
their swim, which made them yield to
the current more readily.
Rescuers worked over the body o.
. Fulton for an hour before they earried
it to his home, at IM East 15oth Street.
? Fulton had six children.
Two More Years
Peaee now?even on the basis of status quo ante?
would mean a great German vietory. Germany has
wrecked the industrial machinery of France. Be'gium
and Rusaian Poland and very seriously crippled
England's shipping. Her own resources are untouched.
ln a characteristically keen article to-morrow Frank
H. Simonds makes clear the eeonomic reasons why the
war must be decisive and the military reasons why no
decision can come until 1918. Get it to correct your
misconceptions. Your newsdealer will deliver your
copy if you speak to him now.
aaaaaaPfc
SThe ^xmitas %xib\mz
Ftrtt to Latt?the Truth:
Netve?tidtitsraaltr?AdvertiaemenUi.
Merab.r of th* Audit Durtiu of Ctr.ulatlooa
CARRETSON SAYS MEN
HAVE NOT CHANGED
Washington. Aug. 25.?
Tlie railroad dispute hiiiges
new on a counter-proposal
made by the railroad execu?
tives. which the trainmen
are asked to accept. Austin
B. Garretson, broiherhood
chief, said to-day, after r.on
ferring with President Wii
son:
"The situation, as far as
we are concerned, is abso
lutely unchanged. No uoiri
plete concrete proposition to
which the railroads will agree/
has been presented to us. I
tell you, absolutely no new
proposition has been submit?
ted to us, except the one that
we accepted last week. Our
position is exactly whal it
was when we accepted the
plan. We have not deviat
ed from it in any way
whatsoever."
"PLEASE LOCK ME UP,"
BEGS SING SING TRUSTY
Afraid He'd Run Away to See
Dying Father.
"Giggles" Guglielmo, a convict, pre?
sented himself to Spencer Miller, dep
uty warden of Sinjj Sing, Thursday.
In his hand he held a little ycllow
envelope.
"My father is dying. Mr. Miller,"
he said, gravely. "I just got a tele?
gram. Would it be possible for a
guard to take me beck to New York
to ace him before he goes? I think a
lot of my father".'"
Less than an hour after the deputy
warden had denied his request Gugli?
elmo came baek to the office. He is
a trusted member of the Mutual Wel?
fare League and had been a<signed
to work outside the prison walls.
"I want to be loeked up in my cell
right away," he said, quietly. "Maybe,
if you leave me out, I'li run away to
see my father. Please put me where
I can't get away."
Yesterday Guglielmo was still
loeked in his cell when word came that
the father he "thought a lot of" was
dead.
HUGHES IS GOING TO BE
MOTION PICTURE ACTOR
He'll Enact Role in Republican
Campaign Film.
The Republicans are going to carry
their campaign into the motion picture
theatres. Through the 80,000 houses
in the I'nited States devoted to pict
uies, they expect to visualize to the
public the issues of the campaign and
thc men takin-r part in it.
The idea has been in the heads of
th<; campaign committeemen for iome
time, but they did not know just how
to .'evelop it. Finally it was put up to
Kv-rett Colby, New Jersey I'rogre.-sive,
att.iched to headquarters, and he solved
thc problem. He sent for Hai Keid,
vet-ran playwright, actor and motion
picture producer, and told him his
trouble*.
So Reid is to write ?nd produce a
story of the campaign. [fl it, Colby
said. the campaign issues will be por
trayed in a realistic manner. The tilm
flrill be distributed not Intcr than Sep?
tember 1". For the tiaflfl being Charles
L*. Hughes will turn .'creen actor, and
so will Theodore Roosevelt, Charles
W. Fairbnnks anti ("nairman Willcox.
MRS. W. G. M'ADOO ILL
WITH TYPHOID FEVER
-
Secretary Hastens to Bedside of
President's Daughter.
ilty TelffTapn to Ths Tribun-. J
SgtUUJ Lake, N. J., Aug. ?.'">.?Mrs.
William G. McAdoo, wife of the Secre?
tary of the Treasury and daughter of
I'resident Wilson, is ill at her summer
home with a light attack of tvphoid
fever. Dr. William G. SchaufTler, the
McAdoo physician at Spring Lake,
made this -inr.oiincement to-night after
a eonsultation with I'r. ("ary T. Gray
tau, I'-eeident Wilson's physician.
Secretary McAdoo arrived here to?
day from C'tica. N. Y., having cancelled
all engagements, to remain with Mrs.
McAdoo.
>
WOMAN, 73, BOUND
BY ROBBERS, DIES
Shock Kills Her as Thieves Loot
Apartment.
When Hans Hoelmreich, a clerk in
the store of Herman Tiark, returned to
the home of his cmployer's mother,
Caroline, with whom he lodges, early
thia morning, he found the woman, who
is seventy-three years old, dead on her
bed. Her hands had been tied behind
her with telephone wire.
The soda clerk aummoned Mrs.
Tiark's -on, who aalWd a policeman. !t
wai found that the second floor apart?
ment at 515 West Itttfl Street, in which
the woman lived, had been ransacked.
It is not known what was stolen.
Physicians from Knickerbocker Hos?
pital believe she died from shock.
BAD FAITH NOW CHARGED
BY BROTHERHOOD CHIEFS
They Insist Executives DeJay
While Campaign of Publieity
Is Being Carried On.
ALL THREATEN TO LEAVE
FOR THEIR HOMES TO-DAY
Managers Have Until This Afternoon to
Present Counter-Pian, but They Are
No Longer in a Conciliatory Mood.
[From a Staff Correspondent of The Tribune]
Washington, Aug. 25.?The country to-night is again
threatened with an immediate nation-wide railroad strike.
President Wilson's efforts to bring the railroads to his terms
of settlement appear to have failed utterly. He will have be?
fore him within the next twelve hgurs the long-delayed reply
of the roads to the proposal that the railway unions have ac?
cepted.
The roads do not accept the Wilson plan. They propose
a new one which not even the most optimistic of the President's
friends believe the unions will ratify.
The four train service brotherhoods have notified Presi?
dent Wilson that unless the railroads act by to-morrow night
the delegates will leave for home with strike orders in their
pockets.
CHANGER.R.PLAN
WILSON IS URGED
Politicians See Yielding to
Executives as Only
Hope of Peaee.
[Fmm Th<" Tribune Dureau ]
Washington, Aug. _!_?. -No psychology
e.xpcrt was needed to sense to-day as
the "Black Friday" of the railway strike
negotiations. The outlook wai darkerI
than at any time since the conferences at!
the White House began. Everywhere
there was the tension of a situation
within a few degrees of the breaking.
point.
j The undercurrent of optimism, appar- ,
ent. heretofore, that some way would be i
found to end the rfeadlock, was absent,
and in its stcad among both executives
and union olficials, there was a spirit of
rcsignation to what might follow. Each
side felt it had gone the limit in con- !
BflflfllflBfl tfl meet the President's plan,
and that to yield further xvould be mora
costly than to fight.
From thc .omparatively clear-cut is?
sues first presentcd to the President,
when the main .juestions were the :
eight-hour principle and arbitration,
each day has adUoi fresh elements to
the conirovcrsy. From a labor prob
Iflflfl, involving merely managers and
men, it has attained new complexities.
It has become a politieal problem,
which campaign managers are already
! considering as material for an "issue."
Through the President's suggestion to
the railway executives, it has become a
rate problem, and as such it has set to
work not only forces representing great
financial interests, but manufacturers
and shippers, who would have to pay
tkfl bill.
Many Mer. Watchinc Situation.
| Thus, in the lobby of the N'ew Willard,
the vortex of thc negotiations, one
tin.ls not only the railway mi-n di?
rectly concerned, but politicians, rep
rcMBtathrflfl of big commercial and
manufaeturin,, associations, intluential
members of Chambers of Commerce
from all over the country, and shrewtl.
silent men, watching and reportnig de
velopment.s to the great unseen poweis
directin , the whole play.
And it is these outside forces, repre
ser.tative of the gencral public, that
ofT-r hope for the situation. Thc influ?
ence of organizations like the United
States Chamber of Commerce and the
National Manufactureri' Association,
thrown powerfull^* on the side of a
peac-.-ful adju.Atmcnt through arbitra?
tion. may yet compel both contestanta
to yield or to accept a draw.
'Ihrough the support which businesa
men generaily have given to arbitra?
tion, the attitude of the railroads has
been stiffened during the la.t few days
They feel that if a break comes t _
justice of their position will win public
support. I'sed to public misundcr
j standing generally, they have been sur
' prised and gratitied at the result. Even
the alignment of the Presidont on the
' side of the unions, as the railway ex
[ ecutives consider it, does not shake
their confidence that in the event of a
strike they arill win. For the tirst
time, as one of their executives deelared
to-day. "the railroads feel they have a
| moral issue," and in fighting for it they
have found something of the*Moy sup
Ceutloued oo |>afe I, colama i
> New Plan of Managers.
The railroad executives and mana- j
gers, having: received an ultimatum
in turn from tho White House, have
prepared a counter proposal, which
grants less to the unions than they
would receive under the settlement
plan espoused by the President.
This plan provides three things:
1. Concession of the eight-hour
day as far as it is practicable.
2. Arbitration of the question cf
how much money shall be paid for
the eight-hour day in relation ro
the present ten-hour schedule of
rates.
3 The proposed arbitratijn
board to be appointed immediately
by President Wilson instead of, ns
originally planned, arbitration by
the Interstate Commeree Commis?
sion or a commission authorized
by Congress.
Would Bring Arbitration.
The railroads, under this plan,
would obtain their principal demand
?arbitration of the wage question.
The employes would get substantial
ly what they demanded in the way
of an eight-hour basic day. Wheth-tr
they would secure the other point,
ten hours* pay for eight hours' work
In all cases and pro rata overtime
or time and a half pay for overtimi
beyond eij*ht houra in all cases,
would be decided by the arbitrators.
Scarcely any one believes that the
four brotherhooda, chating for daya
under thc delay of the railroad execu?
tives, will agree to these terms. The
men are too confident of winnig all
that they ask by a strike, it would
seem, to accept less than what the
President offered them ai.l publicljr
proclaimed as fair. They nave main
tained all along that the eight-hour
day was not arbitrabie; th..t they al?
ready had it on many roads. It is
expected that they will say the roada'
plan concede*. the eight-hour basic day
enly in principle and "wherever practi?
cable," but not as an absolute rule.
Executives Will Hold Out.
On the other hand the railroada' ex?
ecutives insist that these terms are
all that they can yield Their conten?
tion is that the eight-hour working daj
urged by President Wilson is not applt
cable to train service as it ii to other
industries. They have fought the Prei
iccn'.'s plan on the argument that what
he proposed meant simply a $50,000,000
wuge inerease to one-sevtnth of their
employes. Now they have deviaed thia
sceme to work out a schedule that thejr
hope will not cost them that much
money.
The money queation is the vital isaue.
Thc roada aay that under the plan de
vised by the President, a man now
working a regult-.r ten-hour run would
begin to collect overtime at the end
of the eighth nour insteau of at the end
of the tenth. and that the rate of pay
for the eight houra and for tht over?
time would be increased 25 per cent.
Some of the runs are lesa than eight
houra. Therefore their plan propoaea
an arbitration of the differencei be?
tween the two ao that .. more equitabla
applieation of the eight-hour baaic daj*
and overtime ehargea may be arranged.
The reception that auch a plan will
probably receive from **}? unions waa
forecaat to-day, even before the rail?
road executives -praetieally driven bj