St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-06-10
GOOD ADVICE TO A YOUNG ME-
CHANIC.

Charles CrOcker, the Southern Pa
cific railroad magnate, who was lately
thrown from his carriage and seriously
hurt, is reported now by his friends to
be on the sure road to recovery. He
has suffered good deal from the frac-
tured bones and general shaking up
that resulted from his accident, but
tender nursing and a hardy cOnstitu-
ton have pulled him through. There
are few men in Wall street or railroad
circles who have so many friends as
Charles Croker. He is millionaire
who is not proud. The fortune that
gives him all the luxuries of life he
carved out for himself. He has known
what it is to "work for board and
clothes"-board, too, that wasn't the
choicest and clothes that were not the
finest. 1t is not many years that he
has to look back to the time when he
felt prosperous on wages of 81 month
"a quarter of a dollar per day.
When Mr.. Croker first started out
to build the Southern Pacific route,
said my narrator, he also decided to
build better house for, himself than
he had been occupying. He summon
ed his architect and told him what was
wanted, adding that he desired no
secOnd-class mechanics to work on the
house. "And," he added pointedly,
~ consider eight-hOur labor second
class labor" That was time when,
as at present, there was great hur
rah in various parts of the country,
particularly in California, over the de-
mands of wOrkingmen for 10 hours
pay for eight-hours work. The ar
chitect shook his head dOubtfully. He
was afraid that it would have to be
eight hours labor or no labor at all,
and he told Mr.. Croker so. "All
right, them" commented the railroad
builder; "we'll wait till somebody
tai than laziness." He waited. Bricks
and lime and lumber that had been
provided for the proposed structure lay
exposed to the weather with no pros
pect of its ever proving of any use.
Mr.. Croker used to walk down and
look over his big pile of material every
day. Nobody in the long list of build
ers who had been approached had
been found willing to take the con-
tract, for though the work was to be
done at their own price, their work
men were so welded to the eight-hOur
doctrine that they stood constantly
and immovably in the way of any I'M
dertaking to Mr.. Crocker's taste.
One afternoon as Mr.. Croker stood
examining portions of the timber 60
ing to waste he caught the eye of a
young man rising just above a neigh
boring fence. A muscular young me-
chanic of Mr.. Crocker's acquaintance
owned the eye.
= Nj l.
"that you are no longer the friend of
the wOrkingman 2"
"NOt the friend of the workingman ~
calculated the railroad man. "What
do you mean ?"
"YOu do not allow any one to work
for you who is committed to the eight
hour system, and this is big disap-
pOintment, sir, for we've always count
ed on you for our friend"
"LOOk here, young man, you strike
me as an intelligent fellow. Now,
suppose you come over the fence and
we will have little talk"
The young mechanic scaled the
pickets and the two men sat on a piece
of hewn timber and talked Familiarity.
Said Mr.. Crocker: "Have you no am
bition to be something more than a
mere jOurneyman mason? Haven't
you an ambition to become a master
in your trade ?n The other said he
had ambition but little expectation.
"Now listen to a little comman sense,D
went on Mr.. Croker. ado you ever
expect to get any higher than you are
to-day-dO you ever expect to be
master mason by working only eight
hours a dayf If somebody else has no
such ambition and wants only money
enough to buy glass of liquor beside
his daily bread-if such men are anx-
ious to cut down the hours of work,
are you going in to help him bind you
down to his low level? Are you vol
going to bind yourself to a |
log? Are you content to be toady to |
a lot of loafers7 Are you ready to |
make sacrifices of all your ambitions
and all your prospects in order TO join