Show t r 4 AGREE TO ARBITRATE DANGER OF WALKOUT OF FIREMEN FIRE-MEN OVER FOR PRESENT UNLESS t UN-LESS MEDIATION FAILS f Union Officials Had Set the Hour for l Beginning of the Strike When t Offer Was Made by the Railroads > Rail-roads Involved 1 Chicago Danger of an Immediate litrlko of 27000 locomotive firemen t the throwing out of employment of i i moro than 125000 other employes nul tho temporary suspension of business i I ness on practically every railroad between I be-tween Chicago and tho Pacific coast fwas averted on Tuesday through tho 1 r I acceptance of offers for mediation h i from tho federal authorities At tho requests of the general managers I man-agers of tho fortyseven railroads Involved l In-volved Chairman Knapp of the Inter atato Commerce Commission and f 1 Commissioner of Labor Neill telegraphed It j tele-graphed an offer for mediation to the i 4 I union officials This offer was accepted accept-ed W S Carter president of tho j Brotherhood of locomotive Firemen I l and Englnemon < stipulating however that action must begin at once k The appeal to Washington was taken tak-en as an eleventhhour movement to I prevent a walkout which It was declared de-clared threatened tho greatest railroad rail-road strike since that of 1894 n I I Thirtyseven members of tho Western West-ern Federation Board of tho Brotherhood Brother-hood at midnight formally voted for r a strike Tho hour for striking had been sot for next Monday morning and tho members were prepared to 1 tart for their homes to put the strikes strike-s Into effect whon tho mediation steps i I were taken |