A Second Railroad Strike Threatens Seattle as Union Demands Great Northern Stand Down

Although the Great Northern railroad has just emerged from the throes of a strike, another is threatened. Last evening President Blondo, of the American Railway Union, received the following dispatch from James Hogan, of Chicago, one of the organizers of the American Railway Union, who stepped into the shoes vacated by Debs when he went to jail:

"The Great Northern is assisting other roads at the Twin Cities. We have requested President Hill to stop this. If he does not, he will be requested to strike. Answer."

President Blondo received the message too late that night to bring the matter up before the local American Railway Union, but a meeting will be called today to consider the matter and take action, at which time Mr. Blondo will notify Mr. Hogan by wire. In speaking of the dispatch last evening, Mr. Blondo said:

"The Great Northern at the Twin Cities has been assisting the other roads to make up trains, handle cars, etc., and this the American Railway Union will not stand. Here in Seattle the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern has been assisting the Great Northern in handling the Great Northern's traffic by transferring freight cars. I notified Superintendent Copeland of the Great Northern that this must stop, and he promised me that it would. I told him that the boys would probably be called out if he did not stop handling the cars of the Northern Pacific, except such as we were willing he should handle. I also warned the agent here, Mr. Wilson, that we would not countenance the aiding of the Lake Shore or the Northern Pacific and had nothing to do with their transferring cars from one road to another. I tried to find Mr. Copeland tonight, but I learned that he was out of the city."

A rumor is afloat. Two days ago a Post-Intelligencer reporter asked one of the trainmen if he had been notified of it. He replied in great surprise: "What! A strike? It can't be! We just had a strike and got all we asked for. We've got no kick coming now."

He was then told about the dispatch received by President Blondo. His face assumed a downcast expression, and he said: "Well, I don't want to go out, but if the order comes, I will. I can't allow myself to be called a 'scab.'"

Then he brightened up and laughed: "But won't Jim Hill tear his hair! He's just had a strike, and if he has another he'll get a notion that President Hill will have no use for us. I believe it is a put-up job. He has lost his fight with us. We got what he contended for and now he feels sore because we are going to lose this strike. But he is merely endeavoring to make us feel that he has lost his fight with us. Then, of course, if the strike is lost, his obligation to us will be abrogated and he can employ whom he pleases and pay them to suit himself."