The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-02-12
13AFx or i. j, MAtt1h

11ATx or i. i, 1k1A1xLh
rs 1Fsith<d 1as East ia Sunday lfor.izs
-.0haxhdtef1SsiSi q i nan Who 1oeo
from Brakeman % dGnerG1 ll3Isyjf.
sherburne 8 Merrill died in Milwa ukse 1t
l2.Q last Sunday. morning, aged sixty-seven
years. He suffered ( third par.lytic stroke
last Tuesday, and his death since that
time has been almost hourly expected
TO the thirty thousand or more employees
Of the Chicago Milwaukee l. st. Paul Rail-
way company, General; Manager Merrill was
commonly known as Tho Old Man" Tho
sobriquet was IN indication Of tho character
OF the great manager, not of his age;
for the appellation originated inc
general and remarkable regard, which
the term itself indicates was filial in its char
acter. Probably no commander of troops
ever welded an equal army of men 20 thor
oughly loyal to . single individual In proof
OF this, 1t may be noted that strikes have
been entirely unknown to the experience of
the railway company which Mr. Merrill has
developed from insignificant beginnings into
the greatest corporation Of its kind on the
continent Only those who have had personal
acquaintance or often contact with Mr. Mer-
rill can fully comprehend the degree of
power which he could exercise over other
men. or bodies OF men, 1T his will.
The faculty was not based upon
diplomacy, for few men were more candid in
any sort Of negotiations; 1t was not the result
OF oratorv or manners, for he was careless of
CIV nh ~ Ill
come from studied effort, for conscious
strength Of will and mind were Unborn in the
man. 1t was due wholly to his always evil
dent determination ~ indicated IN
the straiRhtforward-lC. a4ng gray eye, the
firmly drawn lips and erect posture-he
self as well as others: Strength of purpose
was always noticeable in every line Of face,
glance of eye and gesture of person, NO
matter how trivial the business at hand
might be. He lacked grace or dignity but
made up for it tcnfold BY force Of dignity.
These were elements which compelled re-
spect. but they do not wholly account for the
veneration in which he was held by all of his
subordinates. Back of all his mind and
will power was natural adaptibility. 80 to
speak, to persons. In his presence the new
est brakeman on the line would be relieved
was venting his rage at some dereliction of
duty-for there was always q subtle some-
thing in the great managers manner
which seemed to saw, stand on your
own responsibility and be a man, is
all ask Of you!" In other words without
the slightest tendency to familiarity. he
naturally treated every man in his employ rs
though he considered him as good as king
If he was good enough to occupy place or
position with him. He elevated his men to
his own level-for the time being, at least
instead of descending to theirs; and it made
him the idol he was Mr. Merrill's
SUCCESS IN PREVENTING STRIKES"
has long been noted, has been striven for
by other large employers, but has not been
achieved. And it is equally we'll known that
he has never been compelled to grant speci-
he'd conditions when trouble has threatened
During the great railway strikes of few
years ago Mr. Merrill's management was
put to the test: Early one August morn
ing four or five hundred men marched
out OF the Chicago. Milwaukee l. St
Paul shops in Milwaukee, gathered at
their guild hall on Wisconsin street,
held sec1et meeting and resolved to
follow the example of their Chicago breth-
were changed to meet the demands of other
strikers Mr.. Merrill was, of course, apprised
Immediately of what was going on. sOh, :"
said he. ~the boys are all right and will 20
back to work after they have appointed q
committee to come and see the Old Man. >
appointed-waited upon the manager A
office when the committee arrived and all
were requested to leave, Mr.. Merrill
saying: my boys always like to
see me alone at our family gatherings"
The committee. composed of FIVE men, was
met at the doorway by the manager, who ad-
dressed each and every by his sirname, and
invited them in with the remark: I'VE must
hurry through this meeting, so that you can
get back TO work at o'clock, " implying, of
course, that strike was not among the pos
sibilittes. In about ten minutes the COM
mittee came out. returned to their hall end
reported that there was no use of thinking
about striking, afor the Old Man wouldn't
hear to it nohow."
Does he agree to the demands Of the resolu-
NO. He wouldn't agree to anything, only
that he should expect us all to be at work when
he drives up that way this afternoon"
In the discussion that followed the com
m1ttee could not give any clear idea of the
why or wherefore, but unanimously argued
that they knew it would be best to return ia
work, ~because the Old Man said So" And
after Jwo or three speakers had admitted
that whatever the Old Man said was best,
and the men returned to work, confident
that in some way Mr. Merrill would set
things right in his own good time and pleas
ure This is fair illustration of the begin
ming and end of all @labor troubles" between
Mr.. Merrill and his men.
HIS RELATIONS WITH NEWSPAPER MEN,
1t required time, a reputation for accuracy
and favorable reputation generally on the
part OF a newspaper man, before much prog.
ress could be made toward the good graoea
Of Mr.. Merrill. When John C. Gault was his
assistant the interviewer was invariably
capacity for talking long and famil.
iarly without letting any news es.
cape. Later B. G. Lennox. who has long
been sort Of good right hand to the
great manager, has pretty effectually barred
the way between Merrill and reportorial in
QUESTION But when it did happen that Mr.
Merrill was favorably disposed toward par
ticular reporter, he would take good deal
OF personal pleasure in affording that individ-
ual opportunities for scoops, being one of
the few human beings who have existed out
slde the pale of journalism and yet have been
a6le to comprehend the importance of first
place in the race for news Generally, he was
considered by newspaper men about as hard
to corner as Ben Butler or Vanderbilt How
ever, Mr.: Merrill fully appreciated the power
OF the press, and when he had news to give
out which related to the concerns of his
company he was painstaking in giving the
information to reporters, that even slightest
errors in statement might be avoided. At
such times lie invariably expressed his
thanks to the reporter, seeming to appreciate
that his company was the debtor conclu-
sion that many railway magnates always fail
to arrive at
J. B. Olcott expresses the opinion that going
hungry to bed is poor business for dyspep-
tic If no can command fresh air in a sleeping
room, by himself, and can get tho food that al.
ways satisfies his reasonable appetite. That
ought to make man sleep as ali animals sleep
when they are we'll fed
Effects of Tobacco on Youth.
DR.. G. Decaisne has made special observa-
tons OF the effects tobacco in hirty-eight
youths, from to Is years old, who we're adj
dicted to smoking. With twenty two of the
boys there was . distinct disturbance of the
circulation, with palpitation of the heart, de-
hcencies of Digestion sluggishness of the in
tellect and q craving for alcoholic stimulants:
in thirteen instances the pulse was intermit-'
tent Analysis of the blood showed in eight
cases notable falling of in the normal number
Of red corpuscles. Twelve boys suffered fire.
quently from bleeding of the nose Ten com
planned of agitated sleep and constant night