Cumberland County NJ Archives News..... Hello Girls on a Strike, February 7, 1903
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Virginia Boone silver_lining77@ymail.com July 28, 2013, 7:53 pm

Dollar Weekly News February 7, 1903
Hello Girls on a Strike

They Objected to working all night

Went out in Two Cities

Fair operators of Bridgeton and Millville lay down the receiver and quit work 
 Cause of their action

The three young lady operators at the Interstate Telephone Company's office in 
this city suddenly quit work yesterday afternoon and the three in the 
Millville office did the same thing. The Bridgeton three were Miss Nana Fox, 
Miss Carrie Phillips and Miss Tressa Smith. Orders had been received from 
District Superintendent Hess acting for the Home office at Trenton, that two 
of the girls were to work all night alternately,  a week at a time. To this 
they objected and were informed that if they did not do as requested their 
services would be no longer required.

The girls regarded this as final and left for their respective homes. Leland 
Mires has been night operator for sometime, staying in the office all night. 
He slept in a hammock with the night bell close as hand which rang when there 
was a call until he answered it. The claim was, however, that the night 
service was not giving satisfaction and the new plan was formulated. The girls 
did not like the idea of staying all night alone in the office, which opens 
directly off the street with no advance in wages, and indeed did not relish 
the idea at any pay.

The company have (sic) found that it will be impracticable to find girls who 
will do the night service and have decided to abandon the idea. They have not 
recalled the regular operators, however, but have engaged Miss Bessie Shaw and 
Miss Mabel Vanlier, who have been working some what in the past as relief 
operators. The local superintendent and one of the linemen were at the 
switchboard this morning and beside the unaccustomed work were having trouble 
because of the wires that had been torn down by the heavy wind last night.

THE STRIKE IN MILLVILLE

From our Millville Office, Jan 31.

Yesterday at 1 o'clock the operators in the Interstate Telephone Co's office 
in this city laid down the receiver and transmitter and stopped work. The 
girls in the Bridgeton office did the same and one of the linesmen had to run 
the office yesterday as best he could. The girls base their strike on the fact 
that an order had been received from the main office in Trenton for them to 
work, by turns, all night long(part of the sentence missing due to damage to 
the paper)until 11 o'clock in the evening, as they have been doing, they 
would have to work until 7 o'clock the next morning.
L. M. Hess, the manager, was in Ocean City all day yesterday and was not here 
when the strike took place. The girls say they will not go back to work until 
the order is rescinded or other arrangements are made. To work all night, they 
say, would be too lonely and really dangerous for a girl; instead, they think 
the company should get a boy to stay there all night as the Bell Telephone 
Company does.

The subscribers, as a rule, seem to be with the girls in their strike and also 
say it would be dangerous for a girl to stay alone in the office all night. 
Some subscribers want all night telephone service, saying that it is a great 
benefit to them; others say that all-night service is not needed here and none 
have asked for it. Whether this be true or not, matters not, but it seems to 
be unanimous among the subscribers that they do not want a girl to stay there 
all night but instead seem to think that a boy or young man should be hired. 

As the matter now stands the telephones are not in good working order, as it 
proves a hard matter for anyone to jump in and take up such work as that is. 
Mr. Hanes, who is getting his orders from the main office, of course, can not 
relieve the position in which he is placed, but it is probable that when the 
sentiment of the girls and of the subscribers is learned at the Interstate 
home office the order will be withdrawn and the girls go back to their old 
places. Manager Hess could not be found by a reporter last night and it is not 
known what action will be taken.


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