Carnac replied he was standing firm, that he would not yield a cent increase in wages, and that, so far, all was quiet.
It happened, however, that on the day he wired, the strikers tried to prevent the non-strikers from going to work and there was a collision.
The police and a local company of volunteers intervened and then the Press condemned unsparingly the whole affair.

This outbreak did good, and Luc Baste was arrested for provoking disorder.

No one else was arrested, and this was a good thing, for, on the whole, even the men that followed Luc did not trust him.

His arrest cleared the air and the strike broke.

The next day, all the strikers returned, but Carnac refused their wages for the time they were on strike, and he had triumphed.
On that very day John Grier started back to Montreal.