The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-20
CHAPTER X.

On Saturday the men took their well
earned pay, one py one, and went on
of the gates quietly, if sullenly. Dur
ing. the day that had interviewed be
! tween the meeting and the Strik
neither side had made advances TO TIT
other Ii Sartwell had prepared fo
the struggle, these preparations haC
! been accomplished so secretly tina
Gibbons failed to learn of them. TIL,
secretary of the union issued mani
festo 10 the press setting forth the
position of the men in temperate
| phrase that had the effect of bringing
public sympathy largely to the side OF
the workers. 1t was an admirable
/ document, and most of the papers pub
ished it, some of them editorially re-
GREETING the fact that in this enlight-
ened country and this industrial age
some hundreds of men, the bone and
sinew of the land, willing to work
were forced to go into the streets in
protest against alleged wrongs. The
newspapers pointed out that whether
their grievances were just or not was
beside the question, as the point was
that the manager had refused to see
deputation, and this high handed
conduct the papers expressed them
selves as forced to deplore.
Both members of the firm thought
this manifesto should be answered.
The manager did not agree with them,
50 it was not answered.
Pickets were placed before the gates
and a few extra policemen appeared,
as if by accident, in the neighborhood;
but there was nothing for either po-
licement or pickets to do. On Monday
some of the men lounging around the
place looked up at the tall chimneys
and saw them, for the first time dur
ing their remembrance, smokeless.
They had never noticed the smoke be-
fere, but now its absence created an
unexpected void in the murky outlook
1t was as if the finger of death had
touched those gaunt, lofty stacks. anu
the unusual silence OF the place the
seemed to give the situation a lonely
feeling of solemnity they had not
looked for.
On Tuesday some dray loads of new
machinery arrived at the works, and
these the pickets attempted to stop.
but without success. Gibbons was con-
suited, but he took a sensible and lib
eral view of the matter.
Let them put in all the new ma
chinery they wish; that will mean en-
Dloyment for more men when we go
back. We Will not interfere with
Sartwell until he tries to fill the works
with other employees
For the remainder of the week the
shops echoed with the clang of iron,
but no smoke came out of the tall
chimneys.
Call this a fight" said one of the
men over his mug of beer. Il call it
a bean feast
On Saturday strike pay was given
out at headquarters. each man getting
his usual wage, for the union was rich.
1t was indeed bean feast-all pay
and no work.
The first week had enabled Sartwell
to make repairs and TO add machinery
that had long been needed, but ii had
another effect which he considered
more important still II allowed Mr..
Monkton and Mr.. Hope to recover
their second wind, as it were. These
good but timorouS men had been panic
stricken by the going out of their en-
ployees and by the adverse comments
of the press. AS nothing happened
during the week, they gradually re-
gained what they called their courage,
and although they perhaps did not
realize il, they were more and more
committed to the fight when it did
come on. They could hardly. with de-
cency, after keeping silence for a
week, during which time there was
peace, give way If afterward there
should be violence.
The vigilance of the pickets perhaps
-elaxed a little as time went on, and |
here was nothing TO do. But one
morning they had a rude awakening. /
When they arrived at the gates they
Jaw smoke once more pouring from the /
;himneys; there was a hum of ma
,hinery; the works were in full blast.
md the former workers were outside
he gates.
The news spread quickly. and the (
men gathered around the gates from |