History of the Strike

William F. Merrill forwards two reports about strike workers and violence to Paul Morton, General Freight Agent for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy; the reports were compiled by Superintendant Crance of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company and Kohl, Superintendant of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad Company.

Hannibal & St. Joseph R.R.
Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs R.R. General Manager's Office
St. Joseph, Missouri.,

June 23, 1888

Paul Morton, ESQ, G.F.A. Chicago

History of Strike.
Dear Sir:

Referring to yours of the 22nd of March asking for history of recent strike, I beg to enclose to you copies of reports made by Mr. Crance, Sup't of H. & St. J. R.R., and Mr. Kohl, Sup't of K.C., St. J. & C.B. R.R., which give a pretty complete history of matters up to date of writing. I wish to say that I fully endorse all that they say with reference to men specially mentioned as having been particularly loyal & efficient during the dark days of the strike, and I wish to mention also the following men as having been untiring in their energy, and most constant in their devotion:-

S.E. Crance, Sup't of H. & St. J. R.R., who was left almost entirely to his own resources, except such advice as I could give him by letter or wire for the first three weeks after the strike was inaugurated. His position was a peculiarly difficult one as Brookfield (his headquarters) is the place where most of his engineers & firemen of necessity lived, and is almost entirely a railroad town, and a great many of the strikers live at that point. During that time quite a large part of the inhabitants, either through fear or interest, openly or indirectly favored the cause of the strikers. Mr. Crance developed rare good judgment in handling his part of the road under these trying circumstances. He was in a position where it was difficult to get hold of men to fill the places of strikers until they could be sent from the East. He was very ably seconded by

P.H. Houlahan, his trainmaster, who showed ability of a very high order & first class courage & endurance during the time of trouble.

G.M. Hohl, Sup't of K.C., St. J. & C.B. R.R., who has his headquarters at St. Joseph, where mine are, and, of course, I could assist him with my advice more than I could assist Mr. Crance; at the same time I cannot comment too highly his untiring energy and zeal day & night, and also the good common sense with which he handled his share of the work.

N.J. Paradise, master mechanic of H. & St. J. and

F.A. Chase, master mechanic of K.C., St. J. & C.B., also deserve special mention for their loyalty & energy during the strike

E. G. Fish, ass't sup't of both roads, Kansas City, was a tower of strength for us at that point. There was really more difficulty at Kansas City in getting trains out during the first two days of the strike than at any other point, and Mr. Fish seemed to know exactly what to do and how to do it. He was cool & courageous at all the times, and never backed down under any discouragement, but invariably accomplished what he set out to do.

E.E. Walker, gen'l agent, Atchison, was of very great assistance to us in getting things started, and in keeping things level at Atchison, and to him is due, to a very great extent, the fact that the atchison branch of the H. & St. J. R.R. was kept running during the first few days of the strike

M.M. Marshall, gen'l agent at Council Bluffs, also deserves special mention. He was always ready & willing & fully able to meet emergences as they arose

In fact the employees of the H. & St. J. and K.C., St. J. & C.B. Roads, after taking out the strikers among the engineers, firemen, and switchmen (and brakemen & a few conductors on K.C., St. J. & C.B. R.R.) showed entire willingness and intent to do their duty, and deserve the thanks of these companies for their loyalty.

The switchmen in Kansas City Yard were subjected to about as severe a test as any of the employees of these companies. They made a



little mistake at one time and went out for a day, but thought better of it and went to work. They did not go out until the pressure brought to bear upon them to induce them to strike had almost entirely subsided. During all the time of the boycott, when it was not known any hour but that the engineers & firemen upon some of the other roads, or all the roads, would strike, they stuck to their business, and did our work; and for this I would specially commend them. I think they were ashamed of their little uprising after I had had some talk with them, and told them I was ashamed of them.

I have made a great many inquiries of all sorts of men connected with the road, and my best judment is that our present force of engineers & firemen is fully equal in point of competence to those who struck Feb'y 27th. A large number of those who struck were good men and entirely competent to run their engines, but the fact that our fast passenger and freight trains are, and have been for a long time, handled in first class shape in respect to making time, and freedom from accidents, show that our new men are entirely competent to do our business. Moreover, the harmony between the engineers & firemen and conductors & brakemen seems now to be greater than in former times. All hands seem to work together for the general good, and try to help each other out in their duties.

Yours Truly,
W.F. Merrill General Manager.

Enclos:

COPY

Brookfield, MO.,
June 7, 1888

W.F. Merrill, Esq. Gen. Mgr. St. Joseph
Loyal men during strike

Dear Sir:

Referring to your request some time ago for names of employees deserving of recognition for loyalty to the company during the strike, I have the following to report:-

W.C. Hannum. At the time of the strike Hannum was a fireman on the H. & St. J. R.R Previous to coming here he had been an engineer for several years. He is not a brotherhood fireman & refused to go out with the strikers. He arrived at Brookfield on his last trip as fireman about 4:30 A.M. on the morning of the strike, having been on the road since noon of the previous day. He volunteered to take an engine, and about one hour after his arrival at Brookfield on his last trip as fireman, he took the first engine that was started after the strike, and went through with No. 15 to Kansas City. The same night, regardless of interference of striking element, he brought train No. 2 out of Kansas City to Brookfield. For the next week he ran through, Kansas City to Quincy, and vice versa, or anywhere else, at the end of which time we had sufficient enginemen to man our passenger trains, and Hannum was then put on the road to ride with the new men. He was out day & night thereafter riding with & instructing the new men on all trains until April 15, when



he was placed regularly on trains 3 & 4 between Kansas City & Brookfield, which was his choice of runs. Mr. Hannum is a man about 30 years of age, of good habits, and a competent engineer.

Horace Johnson. At the time of the strike Mr. Johnson was an engineer. He refused to strike, and on the first day of the strike, ran engine 22, train No.3, from Quincy to Bucklin; returning from Bucklin to Quincy with No. 4. He ran engines on different trains for two or three days, and was then made travelling engineer, and put on the road to ride with and instruct new men. He still continues in that position. Mr. Johnson is a man of 27 years of age, of good habits, and a competent engineer. He is a son-in-law of the general master mechanic N.J. Paradise.

G.E. Edgeman. At the time of the strike, Mr. Edgeman was a fireman on the H. & St. J. He refused to go out with the strikers and went on an engine as fireman with Horace Johnson on the first day of the strike, and has continued as fireman since. He is a young man of good habits, and is a good fireman.

I.N. Wilber. Mr. Wilber was division master mechanic at Brookfield. From the commencement of the strike Mr. Wilber took an active part for the company, and work day & night, especially for the first few days, running engines & doing whatever was necessary to aid in keeping engines moving. On the first day of the strike, he ran an engine



on train No. 3 from Bucklin to Lathrop, and brought No. 4 Lathrop to Brookfield. Mr. Wilber, as an officer & by his services during our trouble, proved himself thoroughly loyal to the company.

Geo. Thompson, foreman at Kansas City. Mr. Thompson for his services and loyalty to the company during the strike, like Mr. Wilber, is deserving of a great deal of credit. He is not a parctical engineer, though a thorough machinist, and on the first day of the strike took No. 4 out of Kansas City with engine 75, & ran engine successfully to Lathrop, and there took train No. 3 from Mr. Wilber & returned to Kansas City. Since that time he has shown a disposition to do everything in his power to assist the company, and carry out all instructions given him.

Ed. Byers, foreman car repairers, Cameron Junct. From the commencement of the strike, and during its progress, Mr. Byers took hold & showed himself as loyal to the company in every respect, doing all that he possibly could to aid the new men, and keep engines in good order. He also kept constant guard over all property at Cameron Junct. Day & night.

JAS. Murphy, general roadmaster, &

A.J. Carter, foreman of buildings & bridges

These two gentlemen did good services for the company during the trouble, proving themselves thoroughly loyal. During the time of the strike, Mr. Murphy had a large force of his trackmen at Brookfield on guard during the



night, to look after the company's property, and the new men; Mr. Murphy taking personal charge of them.

During the day time Mr. Cartter took personal charge of the force of day watchmen at Brookfield, in addition to valuable service rendered at other parts of the road wherever he could be of assistance.

In addition to these I wish to mention the following names:-

Henry Miller	Yardmaster	Hannibal
J.R. Nichols	?	Withrop
S.B. Harrington	?	Kansas City
J.W. Mulhern	? (Night)	?
T.J. McDonald	ass't agent	St. Joseph
J. Hartley	ass't roadmaster	Palmyra Junct.
W.M. Boyd	?	Cameron Junct.
Geo. Bostick	foreman bridge gang	Brookfield
K.R. Williamson	?	?

These men were ready at all times when called upon, to do eveyrthing in their power to aid the company & show themselves to be thoroughly loyal.

Also in addition to names mentioned- at the time of the strike there was a young man named J.N. Esworthy, boiler maker helper in Brookfield Round House. He had been desirous of becoming a fireman & volunteered to go out on an engine. He went out with engineer Hannum on the first trip, & returned to Brookfield with him. However, it seems he was under age, and the strikers learning this fact, prevailed on some of his relatives to call on me, and finally succeeded in persuading the young man against his will to stop firing. He returned to work in the shop, saying



that as soon as he was of age, which would be in a few months, he would be ready for the road. However, later on the continued talk of the striking element persuaded this young man to change his mind, when he quit his job in the shop and left the company's service.

I wish particularly to call your attention to the first five names mentioned in this report. Too much praise cannot be spoken in their behalf for the meritorious service rendered, and if any donations are in order, they should more especially be borne in mind.

Yours truly,
(signed) S.E. Crance Sup't.

St. Joseph, MO.,
June 14th, 1888.

W.F. Merrill, Esq. General Manager
History of the strike.

Dear Sir:

I beg to give you below a history of the recent strike of engineers & firemen, which took place on this road, in connection with the general strike on the C., B. & Q. system, at 4 o'clock A.M., February 27th, 1888, up to & including the time when the places of the strikers were filled and all trains running the same as they were precedingthe strike.

By reason of the C., B. & Q. officials not acceding to the outrageous demands set forth in the schedule presented to them Feb'y 15th or their consideration by the Brotherhoods of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen, a general strike was inaugurated for the purpose of trying to force the C., B. & Q Road and leased lines to pay the engineers & firemen at a rate which was not only unjust but out of all proportion to the rate of pay received by other employees. The C., B. & Q. officials not caring to have their employees dictate to them what they should or should not do, refused to pay the engineers & firemen the excessive rate demanded, and the result has been that the places vacated by striking engineers firemen have been filled by others, and at this writing the strike, so far as the K.C., St. J. & C.B. road is concerned, is a thing of the past.

As requested by you when asking for this history, I beg to answer the questions in the order, according to number, as propounded in



your letter.

No. 1

The number of men that struck.
Engineers	- - - - -	55
Firemen	- - - - -	50
Foremen - Round House	- -	1
Hostlers	- - - - -	9
Total.		115

No. 2 The number & names of men employed as engineers & firemen that refused to strike & remained in the service.

two: Patrick Brown, engineer & Chas. Torrey, Firemen.

No. 3 The number of trains run the first day of the strike.

Eleven trains, two of which had left the termini 35 minutes before the strike went into effect.

No. 4 By whom were they taken out?

Train	Between	Engineers	Firemen
No. 1	K. City & St. Joseph	E.B. Farnsworth	H.S. Scales
1	St. Joe & Co. Bluffs	Pat Brown	Chas. Torrey
2	Co. Bluffs & St. Joe	L.E. Bridenstein	W.M. Budd
2	St. Joe & K. City	B.F. Dudley	Jesse Gaut
3	K. City & St. Joseph	[blank]	H. Eldridge
3	St. Joe & Co. Bluffs	W.F. Emery	R.L. Bacon
4	Co. Bluffs & St. Joseph	R. Allen	W.D. Robbins
4	St. Joseph & K. City	E.B. Farnsworth	H.S. Scales
6	?	W.H. Davies	R. Keen
9	Kansas City & St. Joe	J. Spellman	F.W. Emery
9	St. Joseph & Creston	A.E. Worthley	J.A. Kimball
Constr.	St. Joseph & Weston	Ben. Hayward	Jno. Maylan

In addition to above trains, we had:-

Train No. 10, Hopkins to St. Joseph, which originiated on C.,B. & Q

Train No. 40, Napier to St. Joseph, which originated on B. & M.

Train No. 26, St. Joseph to Kansas City and

Train No. 39, St. Joseph to Napier.

The last two mentioned were manned by Brotherhood men, having left St. Joseph 35 minutes prior to hour the strike went into effect.

No. 5 The number & names of engineers & firemen engaged the first day of the strike; Where did they come from?

Eight engineers, as follows:-

W.H. Davies	Villisca, IA
J.W. Light	Weston, MO
B.B. Dudley	St. Joseph, MO
E.D. Farnsworth	Kansas City, MO
B. Hayward	St. Joseph, MO
J. Spellman	Kansas City, MO
R. Allen	Council Bluffs, IA
A.E. Worthley	Rosendale, MO

Thirteen firemen, as follows:-

N. Hill	Leavenworth, KS
R.B. Higden	Parsons, KS
H.S. Scales	Kansas City, MO
W.G. Burns	?
W.D. Robbins	Council Bluffs, IA
R.S. Bacon	Phelps MO
JNO. A. Kimball	?
G.W. Hughes	?
L.D. Omer	Creston, IA
P. Edgar	Leavenworth, KS
F.W. Emery	Brookfield, MO
J. Maylen	St. Joseph, MO
H. Eldredge	Kansas City, MO

No. 6 The number & names of those engaged the second day; also the third day:-

Second day:

Ten engineers, as follows:-

J.W. Saeger	St. Joseph, MO.
F.P. Emery	?
W.J. Walsh	Kansas City, MO
E.B. Sheridan	Creston, IA
A.M. Hoffman	Leavenworth, KS
S.J. Buck	Shelby, IA.
J.W. Mowldin	St. Joseph, MO
O.W. Wright	?
George Bristol	Kansas City, MO
F.W. Emery	Brookfield, MO

Ten firemen, as follows:-

C. Catherwood	Kansas City, MO
A.M. Stone	St. Joseph, MO
S.J. Van Arb	?
F. Smith	Kansas City, MO
E.J. White	Villisca, IA
J.F. Shafer	St. Joseph, MO
S.A. Ingram	?
W.M. Griffith	Chicago, IL
Geo. Gillman	St. Joseph, MO
L.E. Sweaton	Kansas City, MO

Third day:

Eleven engineers, as follows:-

C.M. Moore	St. Joseph, MO
C.L. Lee	Council Bluffs, IA
J. Koppinger	Chicago, IL
J.W. Brewster	?
H. Cummings	Detroit, MICH
Jeff. White	Chicago, IL
Dan Kull	Grand Rapids, MICH
E.F. Besse	Cleveland, O
A.L. Fletcher	Atchison, KS
JNO. Slitter	St. Louis, MO
R. Graham	Atchison, KS

Third Day:

Seventeen firemen, as follows:-

H. Hertzell	St. Joseph, MO
C. Nelson	Council Bluffs, IA
S. Valentine	Atchison, KS
G.W. Kohler	St. Joseph, MO
M. Vanstavern	?
ED. Erickson	Wathena, KAS
H. Summers	Kansas City, MO
J.W. Speers	?
H.N. Todd	?
JNO. McCarley	Chicago, IL
F.W. Jones	St. Joseph, MO
R.S. Johnson	?
I. Horton	?
C. Morgan	?
N. Baker	Kansas City, MO
E. Cunningham	St. Joseph, MO
J. Armstrong	Kansas City, MO

Day of strike engaged, and number of engineers & firemen engaged

Day of strike	Engineers	Firemen
4th	13	13
5th	1	6
6th	1	3
7th	3	[blank]
8th	2	1
9th	2	[blank]
10th	1	[blank]
11th	[blank]	1
16th	1	1
18th	1	1
19th	1	1
22nd	2	1
25th	[blank]	1
26th	1	1
29th	1	[blank]
31st	1	[blank]
39th	1	[blank]
40th	1	[blank]
43rd	1	[blank]
52nd	1	1
53rd	[blank]	1

No. 7 What day of strike did first freight train run, & between what points?

On fourth day of strike, Thursday, March 1st. Train No. 19, between St. Joseph & Council Bluffs.

No. 8 What day of the strike did first stock train run?

We had no occasion to run any stock train but carried the stock on regular trains.

No. 9 Number of trains moved over the road each day Febry 27th to March 24th:-

As follows:-

Date	Passenger	Freight	Work	Total
Feb. 27th	8	2	1	11
28th	11	[blank]	3	14
29th	12	[blank]	3	15
MCH 1st	16	5	2	23
2nd	14	7	2	23
3rd	[blank]	6	2	[blank]
4th	[blank]	0	0	Sunday
5th	[blank]	11	2	[blank]
6th	[blank]	12	2	[blank]

From March 3rd all regular passenger trains were run; and from March 7th all regular freight trains were run, excepting No. 17 (fast freight) which was put on March 25th.

No. 10 What particular employees are entitled to special credit for courage, or other good behavior, during the strike?

While there are many of our employees who displayed great courage & proved their loyalty to the company, I will endeavor to give you the names of a few, as nearly as I can now.

I cannot but mention the action of our car accountant, Mr. JNO. Dumbell, who, on the second day of the strike, was at the Union Depot in St. Joseph, when a H. & St. J. engine was deserted by its fireman, when Mr. Dumbell went to the rescue and took the place of the deserter and acted as fireman from St. Joseph to Cameron Junction.

Our agent at St. Joseph, Mr. W.K. Adams, made himself useful, not only during the engineers' strike, but even more so at the time of the strike of the swithmen & brakemen, going out into the yards, making couplings, and switching for a week with such help as he could pick up.

Among our conductors I must mention R. Heaton, extra passenger conductor, F.S. Lathrop, W.M. Bacon, Dan Liddy, and A.J. Rodman, who tendered their services in any way that we wished to accept, offering to go as brakemen, switchmen, or anything we might require of them. Conductor Bacon acted as switchman for a week in the round house yard. I would add that since then he has been promoted to the position of trainmaster.

R. Heaton also acted as switchman until such times as we were able to relieve him, and assign him to his regular work.

I do not think I can do the subject justice in mentioning the loyalty and hard work performed by our yardmaster at St. Joseph, Mr. M.F. Daily. He not only worked alone for several days, but worked at night also, until he was barely able to move: and he & his family were much annoyed by vile epithets applied to them by the strikers & their allies.

I cannot refrain from again calling attention to the loyalty displayed by Ben. Childers, who lost an arm in our service as switchman; W. Harman, who also lost an arm in our service as switchman; and W.C. Ryder, who lost a leg in our service as switchman. These three men, being acquainted with our yards, rendered us invaluable aid in breaking in the new switchmen: in many instances they even worked alone with the switch enines in endeavoring to do the necessary work in the yards.

Our train dispatching and telegraphing service were " A - no. 1 Mr. I.T. Dyer, chief train dispatcher, and his able assistants, Albert G. Smart, W.K. Robinson, H.H. Miller, G.C. Foy, B.F. Young, did most excellent service, working day & night as the occasion demanded without a murmur, using extraordinary care in



guarding the company's interests that no accident should befall our new men running on the road. You can readily see that with new men - engineers, conductors & brakemen, the utmost caution had to be used, and I am proud to say that no mistake was made in the telegraph department during the strike.

And last, but not least, my clerk, Mr. Albert Brown, who during much of my absence, assumed full duties in the office, giving directions that required attention & devoting many hours both day & night in giving attention that all might go well.

No. 11 List of casualties of strike, giving particulars in cases of importance. (By casualties I mean damage done to men or property, either by accident or intent).

Febry 27th as train No. 2, conductor Smith, engineer Dudley Fireman Gaut, was approaching the union depot, Kansas City, the brakes were set on the coaches by unknown parties, stopping the train; and immediately after the train had stopped a crowd of about twenty strikers gathered around & upon the engine, and L. Mooney, one of the strikers, took the engine torch & lighted it and held it up to Dudley's face, calling upon the crowd to look at him. Chas. H. Topham, striker, began abusing Dudley, and struck him in the face with his fist injuring him badly.

March 6th, train No. 2 ran into the rear end of C., B. & Q



extra freight train, 1/4 mile north of Hamburg, damaging the front end & pilot of engine No.13 and the way car of C., B. & Q train: caused by air brake not working on engine No.13.

March 23rd, as engineer Pat. Brown was on his way to the round house from his home, in passing a crowd composed of fifteen or twenty strikers, near the crossing of Tenth & Pacific Streets, St. Joseph, he was attacked by Chas. Roderick, Chas. Whalley, and Chas. Christopher (striking engineers & fireman) and others of the crowd whose names could not be ascertained. Brown was badly beaten, and confined ot the house for several days.

March 25th, as freight train No.17 was passing H. & St. J. crossing south of lower yard, St. Joseph, was run into by a C.,R.I. & P. transfer which was backing up to the stock yards, three cars beign damaged. The accident was caused by the C.,R.I. & P. train not stopping for the crossing.

March 26th, as train No.18 pulled out of Bean Lake, the train broke in two, and the rear end was stopped. When the head end backed up to couple to the rear end was stopped. When the head end backed up to couple to the rear end, conductor Roblin was knocked off top of car, struck on the ground on his head, & was run over & killed.

March 27th (about 11:30 p.m.) switchman Charles Francis was run over & killed by switch engine No.31 at north end of the



lower yard, St. Joseph. The accident happened as nearly as it was possible to ascertain, as follows:- engine No. 31, Preston, engineer; Higden, fireman; had passed over the switch going north at the north end of the lower yard: Francis threw the switch & the engine started south. Francis ran alongside the engine, and attempted to jump on the front end of same, when he slipped & fell in front of foot-board, the engine passing over both legs, from the effects of which he died about 3:30 A.M. of March 28th.

April 2nd, train No. 30 in backing on to the 'Y' at Bigelow struck B. & M. car 1486 which was standing on the long track & not clearing, scraping the side of car & knocking off one door.

April 2nd, as engineer Wright and fireman W.B. Robbing were in Whittaker's restaurant, opposite the Union Depot, Kansas City, sitting at a lunch counter waiting for something to eat, four men came in & sat down at the table directly behind them. One of the men commenced talking to Wright, asking him what road he was working for, and in the mean time one of the men jumped on Robbin's back & caught hold of his arm, and another jumped in front of him & tried to strike him. Robbins succeeded in shaking the men off for a time, and another one threw a bottle striking robbins on the arm. Robbins thereupon picked up a chair & broke it over the head of his assailant. At this junc



ture the proprietor appeared, and the men disappeared.

April 4th, engine No. 39, while switching in the upper yard St. Joseph, pulled out of the man freight track B. & M. extra freight was going north, striking C., B. & Q. car 18029, being the first car behind the B. & M. engine, damaging it and slightly damaging engine No. 39.

April 4th, as freight train No. 20 was entering Kansas City Geo. L. Winters, brakeman, was standing on top of train: some parties unknown to him climbed upon the car and one of them struck him in the face, knocking him off the car, and injuring him so that he could not resume his duties for several days.

April 5th, C.B. & Q, train No. 45, conductor Rich, engineer Reeves, engine 285, was ditched at St. J. & G.I. crossing, St. Joseph, by strikers throwing switch under the moving train.

April 7th, as No. 3, conductor Howard, engineer Allen, was passing through yards at St. Joseph, some shots were fired and stones thrown at the engine, breaking the glass in the cab & indenting the boiler.

April 16th, as engineer Saeger was on his way to the round house, St. Joseph, he was attacked from behind, knocked down and badly beaten & kicked by striking engineers: his left jawbone was broken and he was otherwise seriously injured.

April 16th, as enginer Hoffman was riding on a street car



on South Sixth Street, St. Joseph, the car was boarded by three striking engineers, and engineer Hoffman was knocked down and badly beaten.

April 16th, a car cleaner. JNO. Anderson, was caught throwing the switches in the yard at Kansas City in an attempt to wreck a train. He was also caught throwing a stone through a sleeping car window.

April 29th, as engineer Ben. Hayward was on his way to the round house, St. Joseph, he was assaulted by striking engineers.

At two o'clock, A.M., March 28th, the switchmen employed in the St. Joseph Yard, let the service of the company without giving a moment's notice. Those who left were the night yardmaster, six yard foremen, & sixteen switchmen. The general yardmaster, trainmaster & clerk took hold with the switch engines, and with the aid of B. Childers, W. Harman, and W.C. Ryder (already mentioned in this report) did what important work there was to be done in the yards, and initiated the new men in their work.

The first day we engaged two new switchmen - Elma Brown & J. Ring; the second day, two foremen & three switchmen. And taking into consideration that the yard was new to these men, trains were got out on fair time. On the third day, we received from Philadelphia a corps of ten switchmen, making a total force of 23 foremen & switchmen - one more than went out on strike.

One of the new men met his death in the St. Joseph yard by trying to jump from standing cars on one track to cars in motion on another track.

Work in the yard was just beginning to run smoothly, when at nine o'clock, P.M., April 1st, the brakemen belonging to the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen struck, and induced a few who did not belong to the Brotherhood to strike. In addition to the brakemen who went out, a few conductors, recently promoted, also quit & refused to go to work on any train manned by the new engineers. Out of the twenty-one freight conductors employed on the road, eleven struck: out of thirty-nine freight brakemen employed, twenty-six struck.

On April 2nd we employed twelve brakemen who had had considerable experience, and got out trains No's 18, 19 & 21, which had not been run since the brakemen quit, two extra trains and one construction train. April 3rd we engaged ten brakemen, all having had considerable experience. April 5th we engaged two conductors & two brakemen.

The following is a list of the old conductors who stood by the company during the strike, and who were always willing & ready for work:-

D. Liddy	P. Ford	S.C. Hyde
W.H. Magee	A.J. Rodman	J.S. Hewitt
J.A. Harness	J.B. Dillon	F.L. Harrington
W.G. Hayward	J.P. Mundy	R.L. Henshaw

C.W. White, promoted April 3rd

The old brakemen who remained loyal to the company were as follows:-

M.A. Kuntz	D. Shay	N. Terrill
E.E. Beckett	A.H. Lovejoy	J.A. Jackson
T.G. Armstrong	J. Porter

In regard to towns along the line of road or newspapers that showed any radical feeling for or against the company -

I know of no towns on the line where there was any great amount of feeling against the road, excepting at points where strikers were located, and then the feeling was exhibited through them & not through the citizens in any general way.

Regarding the newspapers on the line - there has been but one paper that has been radical, exceedingly so, and that is the ""St. Joseph Daily Gazette"". This paper has been the organ of the strikers from the inception of the strike, and continues daily to use its columns for their benefit, paying no attention whatever to truth, or even common decency, in advocating their cause as against the company. Most of the papers along the line have been passive, taking no special interest one way or the other, but some few have been strong and open in their ditorials in endorsing & approving the action of the company: among these I beg to mention the "Leavenworth Times", "Bolckow Herald", "Missouri Agitator" of Rockport, MO., "St. Joseph Evening News", while a number of papers not located on the line have taken a gratifying course in presenting their



views to the public; in this connection I would mention the "Topeka Commonwealth", "Lexington Intelligencer", "Maysville Register", and "Stewartsville News"; there were also others that I fail now to remember.

Yours truly, (signed) G.M. Hohl Sup't