Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume], October 04, 1907, Image 1

About Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929

Image provided by: University of Nevada Las Vegas University Libraries

                
i
Tonopah Daily Bo
Ttta tm !
WEATHER
Fair Friday.
It ta .
nanza
0
VOL. II NO. 108
I'ONOPAH NEVADA. FRIDAY MORNING. OCTOBKR I. 100"
FMCE 10 CENTS
T pYlPTT
m l
1
0
n
Q)
M 1 1
0)
Four of the Five Propositions
Submitted Were Acted Upon
at the Conference Yesterday
IDeadlocR. on
The Fifth
Proposition
Negotiations End on Demand
of Employes That Conductor
Cowan Must Be Reinstated
Officials Clhistfpe Iiasujilbordlmattioini
Say M
9
Only Ray of Hope Is That
Grand Lodge Officers May
Order Men Back to Work
Pending afr Investigation.
.
.
Oct. 3, 1907.
Mr. John W. Brock, ,
President Tonopah and Gold-
field Railroad Company. ,
Dear Sir In reply to your
ultimatum to the effect that all
train and engine men must re-
port for duty by 10 p. m., we
herewith enclose our final reply.
We will be ready for service at
the time stated"by you, provid-
ed W. B. Cowan la fully rein-
stated by that hour. ' .
By order of the committee.
CHAS. SCHRADER,'
. Chairman.
This was the answer of the train
employes to the ultimatum of Pres
ident Brock that the men return to
work at 10 o'clock last night or con
sider themselves no longer In the
employ of the company.
This is the rock upon which they
split, which , means that the night
closed with the settlement of the
strike as. high in the air as ever.
. President Brock and Superintendent!
Hedden were in conference with a
committee of the men from noon un
til 5 o'clock In" the afternoon. The
entire situation was gone over, and
of the five demands submited by the
men, four were agreed to. The re
instatement of Conductor Cowan, Mr.
Brock would not agree tb. Cowan
was present at the conference, and
his story was heard. His contention
was that he regarded it as unsafe to
take out the ore train with only two
brakejnen. The committee made the
same contention, tut to no avail.
"The offense of insubordination is
one that a railroad company cannot
overlook," said PresWent Brock.
"Mr. Cowan cannot rgo back" to work
on this road." , T
With four of the propositions
straightened out, and the fifth thus
disposed of by the president, Mr.
Brock gave the men until 10 o'clock
last night to return to work, and so
the long conference ended.
. The railroad employes, to the num
ber of about one hundred and 'fifty,
met last night in Miners' tfnion hall,
and the proposition of returning to
work, according to the Brock ulti
matum, was discussed and . voted
upon The result of the meeting was
that the men refused to return to
work unless Conductor Cowan was
reinstated. '
Shortly before 10 o'clock, the com
mittee called at the railroad office,
where President Brock and . Superin
tendent Hedden were waiting to hear
their reply. The communication was
sent Into the private office and the
men waited for.ten minutes, and re
ceiving no reply from the inner of
fice, took their departure.
There is a ray of hope, which may
bring about a Btfeedy settlement. The
lodge officers of the various unions
may order their members to return
to work, for the reason that the
strike was unauthorized-by the
unions. There were rumors on the
streets yesterday to the effect that
such orders had already been receiv
ed but this is denied by the men.
The men take the stand that in
striking that they did not act as
union men, but as individuals, there
fore it is not a union matter. To
the public this looks. like a distinc
tion without a difference, but those
of the men who were seen claim
that they are within their rights In
the premises.1 The constitution of
the unions of all the trainmen pro
vides that there shall be no strike
until It is declared by the' majority
vote of the union. Before this can
be done any man who thinks he has
a grievance must submit to to the
railroad; then if he does not re
ceive satisfaction, according to , his
idea of justice, he shall appeal to
the grand lodge. A member of the
latter shall inquire into the matter
and if he be unable to adjust the
difference, he Bhall report to the
local union and a vote taken as to
whether there shall be a strike.
While the employes declare that
they are acting as employes and not
as union 'men in the matter, some of
them agree that the national lodges
may not take the same view of the
matter,' and may not stand for the
fine distinction that they are mak
ing. They say that the national
unions have not been notified by
them of the strike. On the other
hand, the railroad company has the
right of appeal in the premises, and
this is taken to be the method of
procedure on the company's part it
the move has not already been
made.
If the national lodges do not step
into the breach, it is hard to say
where the trouble will end. Presi
dent Brock declares that under no
circumstances will he permit the re
turn of Cowan to the employ of the
company, and the men say that they
will not return to work until the
discharged conductor Is reinstated,
and with both sides equally deter
mined, it looks like a long drawn
out battle.
A committee from Goldfleld is
coming here this morning to wait
upon Messrs. Brock and Hedden to
demand of them that they operate
the road, the lack of operation being
more distressing to our neighboring
city than it is to Tonopah
As far as supplies in Tonopah are
concerned, they are - running very
short. There was no coal left In
town last night, and the amount of
wood for fuel is very slight. The
supply of fresh meat will be ex
hausted today and there are few
fresh vegetables in the town. Wells
Fargo & Co.'s express sent a big
wagonload of supplies to Goldfleld
yesterday. Tonopah could 111 afford
the supplies, but Goldfleld needed
more than we, so they were sent.
Automobiles are going out in all
directions. They have been going
to Goldfleld for the last two days,
and now they are starting for Mlna.
The first machine that went to Mlna,
Five Propositions Submitted
.
At the conference yesterday afternoon between President Brock
and the employes, five demands were submitted. They are as fol-
' lows, with' the action taken upon them:
First That Road Foreman of Engines Hardy be discharged.
Left for investigation by the company and the committee of em-
ployes, and if charges against Hardy be sustained, the company
to take action.'
Second Relative to the hospital association. Company's prop-
osition accepted.
Third That Engineer Calvert and Fireman Donald be reinstat-
ed. Same action as In Hardy's case,
Fourth That Conductor W. B. Cowan, who was discharged for
refusing to- take out the ore train, be reinstated. Refused by the
company. -
Fifth That the authority of Chief Dispatcher Cherry be defined.
Settled satisfactorily to both sides. -.
charged $75 for the trip, but the
owners of the machines were more
reasonable yesterday. The price was
reduced to twenty dollars a seat,
with the stipulation that six people
constitute it load. ' Quite a crowd
went out yesterday afternoon to
connect with, the Southern Pacific
train leaving Mlna in the evening.
There Is another crowd to leave this
morning, starting from here at 7
o'clock. , . ;
It looked like the old day, of
Tonopah and the early days of Gold
field's discovery to see a six-horse
stage coming In here on the run
from the city across the desert. The
stage was filled to its capacity at
five dollars a seat. Autos coming at
ten dollars a Beat from Goldfleld,
and departing at the same rate, was
another feature of the strike.
The depot looks like a big rail
road, for there ar.e cars as far as the
eye can reach. The trains are where
the crews left them. But everything
Is quiet at the depot, for the strik
ers have avoided their old stamping
ground since they threw up their
places. .
Statement of the Employes
The strike was not the Immediate result of the dismissal of
Conductor Cowan. The real movement in this trouble was our
objection to Road Foreman of Engines Hardy, and the attitude of
the railroad in regard to the Hospital Relief Association. These
matters were about to be taken up when the Cowan matter hap-
pened. Cowan refused to take out his train for the reason that
he considered it unsafe to operate It down the hill with only two
brakemen. For his refusal, he was dismissed from the service.
Other conductors likewise refused to take out the train, giving
as their reasons the same objections as had been advanced by
i Cowan. They were not discharged, as was Cowan.
We have refrained, heretofore, from making any statement, for
the reason that we believed that the trouble could be fixed up
with President Brock today, but thus far we have been unable to
reach an agreement with regard to the Btatus of Conductor Cowan
and there seems to be no chance of a settlement tonight. We .
wish to state to the public that we deplore as much as anybody else
that this condition of affairs has arisen, but we believe that the
public will agree with' us that we have, met the company more
. than ha,lf way, and that our demands are just and reasonable. .'
'" THE COMMITTEE.
Managed to
Run Blockade
Jack McQuillan jrVturned from the
'coast; on Thursday ' night. Mr.t Mc
Quillan' and ' several ladies' 1 were
stranded at Mlna and were given a
boost to Tonopah in the private car
of President Brock.
Judge Malone, who tried the Smith
Preston cases In Goldfleld in the
spring, was a passenger by auto yes
terday afternoon. He was accom
panied by J. F. Douglass, and the
two went on to; Mina to make. If
possible, connections with the South
ern Pacific at Mina for Reno, where
the Judge has; a case set for tomor
row Judge Malone occupied the dis
trict bench at Denver until last Janu
ary, since which time he has been en
gaged In the practice of his profu
sion. ,;
Mass
Meeting' Held at Goldf ield Appoints Com
mittee to Wait Upon BrocK and fiedden
Demand Tnat Traffic Resume.
With
3. A
(Special to the Bonanza.)
GOLDFIELD, Oct.
mass meeting was held here to
night to voice the protest ot
the people against the continu
ance of the strike that has
tied up the road tor the past
three days.
The meeting took place In the
rooms of the little stock exchange
at Hall and Columbia streets, and
the place was packed to suffocation.
The meeting was Palled to order by
former Senator 1L V. Morehouse,
acting president of the Chamber of
Commerce, under whose auspices the
gathering was held. A number ot
speakers addressed the meeting, and
there were some very bitter lan
guage Indulged In.
The condition. of Goldfleld was
pointed out to those who 'may ' not j
have known how things stand here.
A frightful condition of affairs will
follow if the strike Is not speedily
raised, and it was agreed to send a
committee to Tonopah to wait upon
President Brock and Superintendent
Hedden to demand that some action
be taken looking, to the speedy oper
ation of the road. It was left to
Senator Morehouse to name the com
mittee, which he did Subsequently,
and the committee met later In Mie
rooms ot the Montezuma Club. The
committee comprises the following
H. V. Morehouse, chairman; J. P.
Loftus, Arthur Weber, A. M. Dale,
Walter C. Stone, L. H. Rogers, Thos.
D. Murphy, John S. Cook and C. J.
Nagle.
These gentlemen, representing fall
Goldfleld, will place before the mil
road officials the conditions exUflng
here, which should be already known
to Messrs. Brock and Hedden, ami
will urge upon them the great ne
cessity of an Immediate settlement of
the trouble. They will demand (hat
the differences be patched up tem
porarily until matters can In
straightened out. The situation here
demands that some such action be
taken, for there Is really distress in
the city for lack of supplies.
Communication has been had with
the officials of the Clark road by
wire, and General Agent Knight is
coming from Los Angeles with all
possible speed. The Clark road has
been completed to within ten miles
ot Goldfleld, and it is proposed to
run an accommodation train on that
line and then put on teams and
autos from the terminus Into the
city. Meanwhile the Intervening ten
miles of road Is to be completed as
fast as possible, when' Goldfleld will
be independent of the Brock road.