The Mineral argus., 1885-02-19

Characteristics Of . 1gaa Who 1soe
frsn Brakeman 70 General Manager.
Sherburne \ Merrill died in Milws ukee ss
IL 10 last Sunday morning. aged sixty-seven
years. He suffered third paralytic stroke
past Tuesday, and his death since that
lime hes hen almost hourly expected
To the thirty thousand or more employees
of the Chicago. Milwaukee 4 st. Paul Rail-
way company, General Manager Merrill was
commonly known a. The Old Man" The
,obriquet was an indication Of the character
81 the great manager, not Of his age;
for the appcllatiom originated In .
general and remarkable regard, which
the term itaelf indicates was nlial In its char
acter. Probably NO commander of troops
ever welded IN equal army Of men 40 thor
,ughly loyal to . single individual. In proof
81 this, It may be noted that strikes have
5een entirely unknown to the experience Of
the railway company which Mr. Merrill has
developed from Insignificant beginnings into
the greatest corporation Of it, kind on the
acquaintance or often contact with Mr.. Mer-
I'LL can fully comprehend the degree OF
power which he could exercise over other
men, or bodies OF men, ut hts WILL
The faculty was not based upon
diplomacy. for few men were more candid In
any sort Of negotiations: 1t was not the result
81 oratory or manners for he was careless Of
speech. and abruDt at all times; IL did not
come from studied effort. for conscious
strength Of will and mind were Unborn in the
man. It was due wholly to hts always cvi-
lent determination. as indicated IN
the straightfOrward-lOo looking gray eye, the
firmly drawn lius and erect posture-he
wa: built 10 straight 'inesmso 5s Just TO him.
WAS always noticeable ia every line Of face,
glance OF eye and gesture Of person, no
matter how trivial the business At hand
might he. He lacked grace or dignity. but
made up for II tenfOld by force Of dignity.
These were elements which compelled re-
spect but they do not wholly account for the
generation in which he was held by oil of his
subOrdnates Back Of all hts mind and
will power was natural adaptibility, 20 70
speak. to persons In his presence the new.
est brakeman on the line would be relieved
Of oil mbarrassment-even II ''the Old man.
was venting his rage at some dereliCti0n OF
duty-for there was always . subtle some
thing in the great manager: manner
own responsibility and DO . man. 10
all I ask of you.- In other words, without
the slightest tendency 20 familiarity, he
naturally treated every man In his employ q
IL 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 1t made
him the idol he was Mr.. Merrills
SUCCESS IN PREVENTING STRIKES
has long been noted, has been strivea for
by other large employers. but has not been
achieved And 1t il equally well known that
he'd conditions when trouble has threatened
During the great railway strikes OF a few
years ago Mr. Merrilrs management was
put TO the test Early one August morn
ing four or FIVE hundred men marched
out of the Chicago. Milwaukee 4 st.
Paul shops in Milwaukee. gathered at
their guild hall on Wisconsin street.
held n secIet meeting and resolved to
follow the example Of their Chicago breth-
rem unless certain conditions Of time or pay
were changed to meet the demands Of other
strikers Mr.. Merrill was. Of course. appraised
Immediately Of what was going on .Oh,"
said he. ~the Loys are all right and will go
back to work after they have appointed
Soon the communication of course one was
appointed-waited upon the manager. A
number OF persons were In M Merrill'e
Office when the committee arrived. and all
saying: my boys always like to
see me alone at our family gatherings"
/ The committee. composed OF five men, was
met ut the doorway by the manager. who adj
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 a strike was not among the pos
sibiities. In about ten minutes the com
mittee came out. returned To their hall end
reported that there was no use of thinking
about striking. for the Old Man wouldn't
hear tn IL nohow.
Docs he agree To the demands Of the resolu-
mo. lie wouldn't agree to anything only
! that he should expect us all to he at work when
he drives ny that way this afternoon"
In the discussion that followed the CON-
mittce could not give any clear idea of the
why or wherefore, but unanimously argued
that they knew il would be best to return to
work. because the Old Man said So And
/ after two or three speakers had admitted
( that whatever the Old Man said was best.
/ was always true" the meeting adjourned
and the men returned u work. confident
that in some way Mr.. Merrill would set
things right. in his own good time and pleas
Urc This Is a fair illustration of the begin
ming and end of all labor troubles" between
Mr.. Merrill and his men.
HIS RELATIONS WITH NEWSPAPER MEN.
| II required time, reputation for accuracy
and favorable reputation generally on the
part of a newspaper man. before much prog.
ress could be made toward the good gracei
of Mr.. Merrill When John e. Gault was his
assistant the interviewer was invariably
turned over to that gentleman's genial
iarly without letting any news es-
,apc. Later +. g. Lcnnox. who has long
been sort of good right hand to the
great manager, has pretty effectually barred
Inc way Oetwcen MerriH anu reportOriol IN
QUESTION. But when II did happen that Mr..
Merrill was favorably disposed toward par
ticular reporter, he would take good deal
Of personal pleasure I'm affortlng that individ-
ual opportunities for SCOOPS" being one Of
the few human beings who nave existed out
side the pale OF journalism and vet have been
able 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