Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 May 1900 — MOBS STOP THE CARS. [ARTICLE]

MOBS STOP THE CARS.

Complete Tie-Up of the St. Louis Tran•it Company’s Lines. —i-—— One of the greatest strikes in the history of St. Louis was inaugurated Tuesday, when, in pursuance of action taken at a mass meeting, 3,325 employes of the St. Louis Transit Company quit work to compel the acceptance Of their demands previously formulated. The salient features of the men's demands, which the transit company refused to grant, are briefly as follows: That all conductors, motormen, gripmen, and all men employed in the sheds shall be compelled to be members of the union; that the officers of the union, together with the officers of the company, shall have full power to adjust all differences that may arise, and that in the event of their failing to agree, shall, if mutually agreed to, place the case before three arbitrators. That any member suspended by the union shall be suspended by the company, without pay, until such time as the union requests his reinstatement. That any man elected to an office in the union requiring his absence for not inore than one year, shall, upon his retirement from such office, have his old place with the company. Practically every car line in St. Louis was tied up. The Suburban line, the only one in the city not a part pf the extensive St. Lottis Transit Company’s system, ran cars for several hours, but later was compelled to shut down, as their men were pulled off the cars by strikers. Despite the police there were wild scenes of disorder in the very heart of the business section. Motormen and conductors were stoned and driven from their charge while the passengers fled terrified and preferred to join the big stream of pedestrians which poured in from every street to the offices and stores. Mob violence was not confined to the men alone. Women and children who. sympathized with the strikers hurled stones and epithets of contempt at those who tried to handle the cars. Thousands of St. Louisans suffered the inconvenience of not having transportation facilities. A majority w.\kcd to work Wednesday, while others rode wheels or pressed into use vehicles of every description. Owners of ed many a dollar by transporting residents in the outlying districts. Downtown and on every streel during the early hours there was to be seen a constant procession of nondescript vehicles. The steam railroads entering the city from the north, south and west helped out by putting on additional trains and making numerous stops. The St. Louis Transit Company leases and operates nearly all the street railroad lines in that city. It has more than 300 miles of street railroad track under its control and it carries more than 100,000,000 passengers a year. Practically the entire population of St. Louis is deliendent upon it. Employed on their cars and in the sheds the St. Louis Transit Company had 3,000 men, most of whom belonged to the Amalgamated Association of Street Car Employes.