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Show FIRST BREAK GOMES if R1IY STRIKE DEFECTIONS FROM RANKS OF INSURGENTS REPORTED BY UNION LEADERS. i Forty Thousand Men Reported on Strike Througho-t Country, Causing Caus-ing Tieup of Freight Senice and May Affect Passenger Traffic. Chicago. The first important break 1 Uie unauthorized strike of railroad employees, which started in the Chi-ra;;o Chi-ra;;o terminal district nearly two voks previous, occurred Sunday night at Odumbus, when COO switchmen on the Pennsylvania railroad voted to return re-turn to work. In addition, 5(10 engineers engi-neers and firemen, forced out of work by the strike, will return. Although there was no general Ciovement back to work among the 40,000 men reported on strike throughout through-out the country, defections from the ranks of the insurgents were reported in Chicago, Kansas City, California1 ana several other places and brotherhood brother-hood officers were confident that the peak of the strike movement Avas past. Leaders of the rebel outwalk, however, how-ever, maintained that the strike was gaining momentum. In Chicago freight embargoes have been lifted by the New York Central and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroads. In a number of Important rail centers railroad employees have voted not to strike. Large sections of the country stilt were virtually unaffected unaf-fected by the walkout, notably Now England, southeastern states, the northwestern states and mountain states. Passenger traffic was affected very little, except In the New York area, where service was reported below 50 per cent of normal. Pears of a food famine in New York City were allayed by the arrival of supplies over tne New York Central and the New Haven roads. Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, who arrived in Cleveland Sunday, declared the walkout a mistake and said the federation would support the brotherhoods brother-hoods in their struggle with the insurgent in-surgent strikers. vV. G. Lee, president of the Brotherhood Brother-hood of Railroad Trainmen, said he had received many reports from the brotherhood chairmen throughout the country announcing improved .conditions. .condi-tions. Should the strike be maintained much longer, there may be a shortage short-age of foodstuffs in the districts affected. |
