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Show STRIKETiinEATENS ! WESTERN ROADS ENGINEERS AND FIREMEN. OF N I N ETY-EICHT ROADS WEST OF CHICAGO VOTE TO STRIKE. Tie-up of Traffic Can Only Be Averted by Reopening of Negotiations and Concessions by Companies, Men Refusing to Arbitrate. Chicago. Only the hope that the managers will yield to the demands of 5.",ju0 engineers and firemen stands between ninety-eight roads west of Chicago and the greatest strike in the history of American railways. With the statement on Tuesday thai the men had voted nearly unanimously to strike, union officials announced that arbitration under the federal law would be refused on the grourfd that the railroads have not lived up to previous arbitration awards. The railroads, through their general managers' committee, contended that to grant the employees' demands would mean an increase of $33,000, Ouj annually in wages. Tne engineers and iiremeu asserted that their demands were fair and equitable. It is expected that further conferences confer-ences will bejield. Should the negotiations nego-tiations fail and the employees stand by their announced reTusal of arbitration, arbitra-tion, the resulting strike would, it Is declared, almost completely paralyze traffic in the central west and west. It was announced by W. S. Carter for the employees that the vote of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was 97.27 per cent in favor of a strike and that the vote of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engine-men Engine-men was 99.2 per cent in favor of a strike. A. W. Trenholm, general manager of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railway, chairman of the conference con-ference committee of the railway managers, man-agers, said that the next move in the negotiations was up to the employees. He said the managers' committee would await a formal statement of the present requests of the employees and official notification of the strike vote. He declined to discuss the announced refusal of the employees to accept possible pos-sible federal arbitration and said that no definite time had been set for another an-other conference. |