The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-03
Copyright. 1896. by Robert Barr-)
CHAPTER XIII.


able to trace an event from cause to
effect with reasonable certainty, and
this slight merit made him perhaps
rifle impatient with others who could
not be credited with similar foresight,
as his own wife would not have hest
tated to bear witness. It would prob
ably have filed that just woman with
subdued, if pardonable, qualification
had she known how wide of the marx
her husband was in mis- estimate OF the
result on the strikers Of the news ne
had committed to the care OF MarSten.
Sartwell imagined that the men, IN
their fury at being outwitted, would
turn on Gibbons and rend him. lie
believed that Gibbons would not dare
tell his dupeS, as SartWell persisted
in calling them, how the Union had
been befooled into supporting for
weeks the bogus workmen whom the
managers had flung into its creduiouS
lap. After wreaking their vengeance
On Gibbons and deposing him, they
must return to the works, reasoned the
manager Their money was gone, in
terest in the strike had all but died
out, fresher events had compressed IT
into two-line item in the papers, sub
scriptions had practically ceased; what
then was there left but a return OF
starvation. that powerful ally of mas
tiers ali the world Oyer2
But SartwelI forgot that the English
man knows how TO starVe. No Indlan
ever tightans his belt another notch
with grimmer determination to COM
press hunger than an Englishman sets
his teeth and StarVeS. if need be. he
has starved on the ice near the pole
and under the burning sun in the des-
ert.
He has met famine face to face in
beleaguered fort with no thought Of
I,Io
lous exactitude the insufficient por-
tons of food on a raft in mid-ocean.
The poet has starved in his garnet,
making no outery, and the world has
said, IF we had only known" In
the forests and on the plains, in the
jungle and on the mountains, and
perhaps, worst of all-in the great
cities, amid plenty. the Englishman has
Shown he knows how to starve, saying
with the poet:
I have nor WINGED nor cried aloud.
When Gibbons heard what MarSten
had to tell, he promptly said. 1t is a
lie but the committee looked one [
the other with apprehension in their
faces, fearing it was the truth.
The question is, said Marsten. are
you going to let the men know this?"
Certainly. if ! find it is true: but l
don't believe a word of it. Perhaps
you want the pleasure of being the
bearer OF bad news to the men,.
Il intend TO tell them if you DO not
"Of course. I'm sorry We can't graf
ify you"
The committee dismissed Marsten
and went into secret session, shortly
afterward separating 70 meet again in
the evening just before the large gath
ering in the Salvation Hall. In the in
terval Gibbons and his fellow mem
bers made active search for the alleged
fraudulent WOrkInen. It was evident
that the word had been passed, and
that. fearing the vengeance Of the
legitimate claimants to the union funds
the former "blacklegs" had taken them
selves off out of the reach of possible
harm.
When the committee met for the sec
ond time that day the members were
divided among themselves as 20 tire
adViSability OF taking the men fully
into their confidence. Some thought i /
best to break the doleful news gri1u-
ally; others that the worst should be
known at once. Gibbons, however !
said there was in reality no choice; /
the men must be told the whole truth /
for if the committee tried any half
measures, Marsten would undoubtedly I
rise in his place and relate what Sart- /
well had told him. So the " hole truth
and nothing but the truth was resolved !
upon.
When Gibbons faced his audience /
that night IN the large hall he saw J
men whose mood was totally different /
from that of the crowd which light |
heartedly voted with a hurrah TO go /
on strike. There was now little /
popularity among the men; they sat in /
their places in Sullen silence. feel /
ing that something ominous was in the !
air seemed TO peTvade the hall, and as /
Gibbons stepped to the front of the /
platform ne felt that the atmosphere /
of the place was against him; that he /
had to proceed with great caution, or /
his hold on the men was lost. He /
knew he was a good speaker, but he /
knew also that the men were just /
tri1e impatient with much talk and |
such small result from it all.
Combination, he began, is the |
natural consequence OF the modern
conditions of labor. A woTkingman
of today may ,5e iikened to a single
pipe in q large organ. He can sound |
but one note. He spends his life doing
part of Something. He does not be
gin any article Of commerce. go on
with it, and finish il as did the work
men of former days he merely takes
1t from a fellow workman who has put
2 touch On il, puts his own touch on
it and passes IL on to another, and
thus the article travels from hand to
hand until ii reaches the finisher.
The workman of today is merely a
small cog on a very large Wheel and
so, if he does not combine with his
fellows he is helpless. The workman
of former times was much more in
dependent. He began his work and
completed it. If he was a cooper he
made the whole barrel, hopping it and
heading il. If ore of US may be COM
pared to a single pipe in an organ
the workman of yesterday might be
lkene0 10 a flute on which a whole
tune could be played. He
"Ah. chuck it," cried a Disguised
mar in front. We don't want no
philosophy; we wants strike pay, or
masters paw"
Ear. earl" rang through the hall;
the interpreter quite evidently voicing
the sentiment Of the meeting. Glib
bons stood for a second or two looking
at them.
Yes he cried. his voice like
trumpet cali, 4 will chuck it. This
is not the time for philosophy, as our
friend said; II is the time To act.
When a man strips to fight, what does
he eXpect?"
"A id good thrashing." was the
unlooked-for reply.
1t is never safe for an orator 10 de-
pend on his audience for answers to
his questions; but the laugh that went
up showed Gibbons that the crowd
was getting into better humOr, which
was what he most desired.
When an Englishman takes off his
coat 10 fighf he asks no favor. from ! B.,