The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-02-13
DRAT1 or S. 8. MERRILL.
&c Breathed His Last on Sunday Morning
characteristics OF a Man Who Rose
from Brake man TO General Manager.

from Brake man TO General Manager.
Sherburne s. Merrill died in Milwa ukee at
t220 last Sunday morning, aged sixty-seven
years. He suffered a third p~aralytic stroke
Iast Tuesday, and his death since that
time has been Utmost hourly expected
To the thirty Thousand or more employees
Of the Chicago, Milwaukee & ST. Paul Rail
way company, General Manager Merrill was
commonly known as sThe Old Nan" The
Sobriquet was an Indication of the character
Of the great manager, not of his age;
for the appellatiOn originated in a
general and remarkable regard, which
the term itself indicates was flial in it's char
lcter. Probably no commander of troops
ever welded an equal army of men so thor
oughly loyal to a single individual, In proof
II 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 its kind on the
continent Only those who have had personal
acquaintance or often contact with Nh. Mer-
ril can fully comprehend the degree Of
power which he could exercise over other
men, or bodies of men, at his will.
The faculty was not based upon
diplomacy, for few men were more candidin
any sort of negotiations; 1t was not the result
of Oratorv or manners, for he was careless OF
speech, and ABRUPT at all times; IL did not
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, as indicated IN
the straightforward looking gray eye, the
firmly drawn lips and erect pOsture-he
was built in straight lineS-to be just TO him
self as well as others. SCren 9Th of purpose
was always noticeable iu every line of face,
glance OF eye and gesture of person, no
matter how trivial the business at a
might be. He lacked grace or dignity, but
made up for it .tenfold by force of dignity.
These were clements which compelled re-
spect but they do not wholly account for the
veneration in which he was held by all Of his
~suhordinates Back Of all his mind and
will power was a natural adapttDility, so to
speak, TO persons. In his presence the new
est brakeman on the line would be relieved
of all embarrassment-even If the old man"
was venting his rage at some dereliction Of
duty-for there was always a subtle some
thing in the great managers manne
which seemed to say, Stand on your
own responsibility and be a man, is
AL / ask of you!" In other words, without
che slightest tendency TO familiarity, he
naturally treated every man in his employ as
though he considered him as good as a king
Il he was good enough to occupy a place or
position with him He elevated his men to
his W level-for the time being, at least
instead of descending to theirs; and it made
him the idol he was. Mr.. MerrilPs
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 well known that
he has never been compelled TO grant speci-
ned conditions when trouble has threatened
During the great railway strikes of a few
years ago Mr.. Merrills management was
put TO the test: Early one August morn
ing four or five hundred men marched
z~ - The TNhsaonn NE1yraVIaa o.
Paul shops in Milwaukee, gathered at
their guild hall on Wisconsin street,
held a 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. @0h,"
said be. the Toys are all right, and will go
back to WORK after they have appointed a
committee to come and see the Old Man"
Soon the commIttee-for of course one was
appointed-waited upon the manager. A
number OF persons were in Mr.. Merrill's
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 adj
dressed each and every by his sirname, and
invited them I'm with the remark I'VE must
hurry through this meeting. SO that you can
get back 70 work at i O'Clock" implying, of
course, that a strike was not among the pos
sibilities. In about ten minutes the COM
mittee came out. returned to their hall end
reported that there was no use of thinking
Ss5SG. striking @ses the Old Mar wouldn't
hear to il nohow.'
docs he agree to the demands Of the resolu-
NO. He wouldn't agree to anything, only
that he should Expect as all 10 be az work when
he drives mp that way this afternoon"
In the discussion that followed the CON-
Inittee could not give any clear idea of the
why or wherefore, but unanimously argued
that they knew it YOU be best to return to
work, because the Old Man said So" And
after Cwo or three speakers had admitted
tEat whatever the Old Man said was hest,
was always true" the meeting adjourned
and the men returned to work, confident
that in some way Mr.. Merrill would set
things right, In his own good time and pleas
ures 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.
1t required time, a reputation for accuracy
and q favorable reputation generally on the
part OF a Newspaper man, before much prog
ress could be- made toward the good graces
OF Mr. Merrill. When John G Gault was his
assistant the interviewer was invariably
turned over TO that gentleman's genial
capacity for talking long n famil-
farly without letting any news es-
tape. Later b. q. Ienn0x. who has long
been q sort of good right hand to the
erspt manager. has pretty effectually barred
Che way between Merrill and reportorial in
quasition- But when 1t did happen that Mr..
MsrTiil was favorably disposed toward q par
ticlrlar reporter, he would take q good deal
OF personal pleasure i'm affordiEx that indiyid-
nal opportunities for scoops, being one OF
the fess human beings who hare existed out
side the pale Of journalism and yet have been
able to comprehend the Importance OF first
place In the race for news. Generally, he was
considered by newspaper men about ms hard
TO corner as Ben Butler or Vanderbilt How
ever, Mr.. Merrill fully appreciated the power
OF che press, and when he had news to give
out which related to the concerns Of his
company ne was painstaking IN giving the