Immortalized in song, Locomotive Engineer John Luther "Casey"
Jones belonged to BLE Division 99 in Water Valley, Miss. Brother Jones sacrificed
his life on April 30, 1900 to save the lives of his passengers.Page 4 -- Back to Page 3
The walkout completely broke the road's BLE Division 62. All of its members were on strike and all were fired, and not one was ever returned to employment.
Another aftermath of the strike came at the 1892 convention when a resolution was enacted which authorized the payment of $50 per month to each old and disabled CB&Q member until the next convention should meet, and a special assessment was ordered levied on each assembled member to make up the amount required.
CASEY JONES: LEGENDARY BLE MEMBER
A light began to shine through the clouds surrounding the CB&Q strike in the form of a brave engineer named John Luther "Casey" Jones. A member of BLE Division 99 in Water Valley, Miss., Casey Jones was one of the most alert and able engineers working out of the Memphis terminal of the Illinois Central Railroad.
Immortalized in song, Locomotive Engineer John Luther "Casey"
Jones belonged to BLE Division 99 in Water Valley, Miss. Brother Jones sacrificed
his life on April 30, 1900 to save the lives of his passengers.
His widow received proceeds from two $1,500 policies with the BLE's Locomotive Engineers Mutual Life & Accident Insurance Association.
Piloting the "Cannonball Express" on April 30, 1900, Brother Jones stayed at the throttle and sacrificed his live in order to save his passengers as his train plowed into a stalled freight near Vaughan, Miss. Almost immediately after the accident, stories began to spring up throughout the country about the "brave engineer" who died at the throttle to save his passengers.
His sacrifice reached legendary proportions when his roundhouse friend Wallace Saunders, an engine wiper, strung together "The Ballad of Casey Jones." The ballad was picked up by a professional songwriter who polished the lyrics and gave the world one of its all-time hit songs.
In doing so, BLE member Casey Jones became the nation's eternal symbol of the bravery and dedication of locomotive engineers.
P. M. ARTHUR PASSES: A NEW ERA BEGINS
The affairs of the developing Brotherhood came to a pause on the night of July 16, 1903 in Winnipeg, when hardworking Grand Chief Engineer P. M. Arthur, in the midst of giving a speech to Canadian members, slumped to the floor and never regained consciousness. Coincidentally, at the moment of Arthur's passing, Assistant Grand Chief Engineer A. B. Youngson was lying desperately ill at his home in Cleveland. Too ill to assume the duties of the office of grand chief engineer, Youngson lingered for 13 days and then he, too, passed on.
The third floor of the Society for Savings Building
in downtown Cleveland was the home of the BLE prior to the completion of
the Engineers Building in 1910. According to the September 1896 issue of
the Locomotive Engineers Journal, "The B. of L.E. funds have always
been deposited with this Society, the strongest and safest west of New York.
The building still stands in downtown Cleveland and is still the official bank of the BLE International Office.
This necessitated a meeting of the grand officers to choose the next grand chief. After several ballots were cast, the vote went to Warren S. Stone of Eldon, Iowa. And with the succession of Stone to the highest office of the Brotherhood, a new era began for the Engineers.
The new grand chief engineer was unquestionably one of the most picturesque men in American life in his time. A tall, squareshouldered man, he was a confidant of presidents and one of the powers behind the LaFollette presidential candidacy.
At the 1908 convention the new grand chief reported on the matter of a building for a home office. He pointed out that the 10year period during which Cleveland had been chosen for headquarters was about to expire, and that a permanent headquarters should be established. A vote was taken and it was decided that Cleveland should be the permanent home of the BLE. In addition, the grand officers were instructed to work out a practical plan for the construction of a home office building.
The site selected was at the corner of Ontario St. and St. Clair Ave. A 13story office building was planned and realized in the construction of the BLE International Office, opened in 1911.
November 16, 1910 -- the brand new BLE building, known as the "Engineers Building." Built next door to the previous home in the Society Bank Building.
The April, 1910 issue of the Locomotive Engineers Journal reported on the new building as follows:
"The dimensions of the building are 178 feet on St. Clair Ave. and 124 feet on Ontario St.; with 13 full stories and an attic or roof story, with a basement under the whole structure.
"The exterior finish is of specially selected granite for the first story, the remaining stories of beautifully decorated white terracotta.
"The ground floor is devoted to stores on the Ontario and St. Clair fronts, the center of the building being devoted to an auditorium with large stage and mezzanine floor capable of seating about 1,250. A large organ occupies either side of the stage; the whole beautifully decorated. The interior of the building is finished in white Italian marble, with door and window trimmings bronze, walls in tints"
The auditorium and organ in the new BLE building.
Stone was a man of direct and sometimes impulsive action. But it was his flair for financial manipulation that may be longest remembered. He embarked the BLE on a program which put the Brotherhood in control at the peak of these operations of business valued at more than $150 million. Some of the investments were novel, but sound and useful. For example, the BLE established a chain of cooperative banks across the country, ranging from the big $28 million BLE Cooperative Bank of Cleveland to the tiny Labor Bank of Montana. The Brotherhood also controlled the big and important Empire Trust Co. of New York, with resources then of $76,000,000.
A BLE $5 bill signed by President Warren S. Stone and General Secretary-Treasurer William B. Prenter. It was issued as legal tender during the BLE's financial heyday in the 1920s. This bill is dated October 25, 1920, and pictures then-U.S. President Benjamin Harrison.
LABOR FORCES JOIN FOR THE EIGHT-HOUR DAY
In 1915 the Engineers got the three other brotherhoods together and presented a carefully worked out plan to press for the eighthour day across the nation. At the First Triennial convention earlier that year, the members had adopted a resolution recommending an eighthour day in switching service, an eighthour day or 12-1/2 cents per hour in freight service, and a fivehour day or 20 cents per hour in passenger service, and time and onehalf overtime in all service.
Together, the four transportation brotherhoods made the first nationwide strike threat. President Wilson finally met with the entire brotherhood joint committee at the White House, at his request. His investigation favored the union demands. When the carriers rejected his appeal to accept the brotherhood proposals, Wilson turned to Congress for legislation to give the men what he proposed to them. The result was the Adamson Act of 1916, providing for the eighthour day.
Management claimed that the real issue was ten hours pay for eight hours of work and, hence, a 25 per cent wage hike. The BLE. maintained that more was at stake than eight hours a day that the whole question of overtime and poor management of working time was involved.
The carriers fought the law in the courts, but Wilson and the brotherhoods were upheld by the Supreme Court. Grand Chief Stone, in his statement for December of that year, said: "This year of 1916 will go down in history as the most eventful year of the Organization. We are making history so fast that it is almost impossible to keep up with or grasp it. Every day brings new developments, yet we believe in the end it will all work out to the advantage of every man who toils."
The onset of World War I brought about government operation of the railroads and a great confusion because of the poor operating condition of the roads at that time and because of the stress of the war effort. With the ending of the war the railroads were turned back once again to their private owners and the brotherhoods once more dealt with them on an individual basis.
At the 1924 convention the office of President of the BLE was created and Warren Stone assumed that title until he passed away in 1925, the office of grand chief engineer then becoming subordinate. The death of President Stone in 1925 brought about a shift in the Grand Office. W. B. Prenter moved up to the post of president, L. G. Griffing became first vice president, and Alvanley Johnston, grand chief engineer.
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