When the Great Railroad Strike Reached Seattle

The great railroad strike has at last reached Seattle, and the Lake Shore road is tied up. Ever since the striking switchmen returned to work the other day there has been more or less feeling among the men at Tacoma and on the other roads, and the matter has been frequently discussed at meetings of the Lake Shore employees. None of the men wanted to leave the service of the company — the most harmonious relations having existed between the officials and the men — and it was hoped up to the last minute that some way would be discovered to avert the strike. But the arrival of two non-union crews in the city yesterday and the day before brought matters to a crisis last night.

The conference held on Monday night lasted six hours and did not adjourn until 4 o'clock yesterday morning. A delegation who had gone over to Tacoma to investigate the situation and the sentiment among the engineers, conductors, brakemen and switchmen there made reports which partly encouraged them to strike, partly urged them to wait awhile. Another meeting was held yesterday morning at 11 o'clock, at which it was determined to send a committee to confer with Superintendent Kline in reference to preserving a position of neutrality.

This committee met Mr. Kline at 8:30 last night and stated the embarrassing position many of the men were in. They did not want to strike and yet they did not want to seem to forsake their fellow workmen on other roads and be made instruments for the defeat of the latter in a cause which had their general sympathy. They therefore proposed that the Lake Shore road would not handle any Northern Pacific or Pullman cars brought into the city by non-union men. The committee consisted of Brakemen McFadden, who was the spokesman, and Brown, Switchmen Cardie and McArdle, Fireman Shipley and Engineer Smith.

Mr. Kline replied that he would not for a minute consider such a proposition, much less take it under advisement, and he wanted the men to understand it very clearly.

The committee then said they would have to report to their meeting of the employees, and arranged for another interview at midnight. Fifteen minutes before that hour the committee again called on Mr. Kline and stated that there were forty-four local employees of the road present at the meeting when they reported, and that there was not a dissenting vote to the motion that the committee be instructed to notify Mr. Kline that the men would adhere to their first proposition, and that if he would not agree to it they would go on a strike.

After asking if the strike went into effect immediately and receiving an affirmative reply, Mr. Kline said: "I shall call upon each man individually, and if he hesitates to perform his duty I shall immediately discharge him."

A few minutes later, bethinking himself of the train which was then due from Tacoma, he asked the night switch crew if they were going to switch the train. They said: "Well, I don't know." Mr. Kline replied: "Now is the time to decide," and the men said they would not do so. They were then told to come around in the morning and get their time checks, as also was an engineer who told Mr. Kline he would not take out this morning's train.

The Lake Shore has a contract with the Northern Pacific to switch and handle all trains coming into Seattle, and would violate that contract by acceding to the demand of the men.

Northern Pacific trains, including the Pullman coaches, were handled yesterday by the regular yard crews of the Lake Shore road, and there was no trouble or excitement manifested in the yards. At 9:15 o'clock the train which came up from Tacoma on Monday evening left for Portland. The departure was witnessed by a large crowd of spectators, but no demonstrations of any kind were made. The six deputy United States marshals who came over the evening before returned to Tacoma on the train.

At 2:45 a train came in from Tacoma. According to instructions it proceeded very slowly, taking nearly three hours to make the run which is usually made in one hour and forty minutes. A large crowd of spectators was at the depot when the train came in, but not a loud word was uttered or any indication given of hostility to the train crew. The regular yard crew of the Lake Shore road switched the train around for its return trip.

Around 2 o'clock the crowd grew so great that it was with difficulty the deputies could move about. There was no interference whatever, over the oft-repeated suggestion of United States Judge Hanford, that all persons who interfered with the property of the railroad company or with its employees would be punished for contempt of court.

Twenty-six men were sent over to Tacoma yesterday by Trainmaster Mills, of the Lake Shore road. Seven of them were engineers and the others were applicants for positions in all branches of the service. Altogether, Mr. Mills says, about fifty men have been sent over with letters from him to the Northern Pacific officials. He also says that most of them are union men or were union men before they quit railroading. "There are any number of men in this country," said he, "who formerly were railroad men, but who have gone into other occupations. Many of these men have been thrown out of work by the general stagnation of industry, and they are now simply resuming their former calling."

TACOMA, July 3.—The eastern through train, which has been tied up here on account of the strike since Wednesday last, left for Spokane this morning at 7:15 o'clock under an escort of sixty deputy United States marshals armed with Winchesters. There are now 130 deputy marshals guarding the property of the Northern Pacific and protecting the non-union men from possible harm. Up to date about 200 men have applied for work and in a few days, officials say, the company will have all the men needed to properly operate the road.

All of the federated bodies of employees engaged in the handling of trains, except the conductors, having gone out with the American Railway Union, it is the intention of the Northern Pacific not to re-employ any of them, but to build up an entirely new train service. Some of the strikers, realizing this, have already begun seeking new positions. The company's drastic move in turning its back on the former employees has had the effect of disheartening a few, who admit the strike was a gigantic mistake, but inasmuch as they had joined hands with organized labor, they did not propose to desert. There is an almost universal demand for a finish fight, no matter which side wins, and both sides have pronounced sympathizers.

Last night the last of the shingle mills, representing an aggregate daily capacity of 10,000,000 shingles, closed. Of these 50 per cent were closed because of the recent floods in the Rocky Mountains, and the car famine which the strike has brought about has closed the balance.