Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-03
Copyright, 1896. by Robert Barr)


Sartwell prdcd himself on being man
who made few mistakes. He was able to
trace an event from cause to effect with
reasonable certainty, and this slight merit
made him perhaps a trinc impatient with
others who could not be credited with similar
foresight. as his own wife would not have
hosi.ated to hear witness. 1t would proba-
bly, have filled that just woman with sub
ducd II pardonablc, qualification had she
known how wide of the mark her husband
was in his estimate of the result on the
strikers CT thl news he had committed to
the care OF Marsten Sartwel imagined that
the men, in their fury at being outwitted,
would turn on Gibbons and rcnd him. He
believed that Gibbons would not dare tell
his dupes, as Sartwsll persisted in calling
them, how the union had been befooled into
supporting for weeks the bogus workmen
whom the manager had flung into its credu
lous lap. After wreckng their vengeance
on Gibbons and deposing him, they must
return to the works, reasoned the manager.
Their money WAS gone interest in the strike
had all but died out, fresher events had
compressed 1t into two-line item in the
papers, subscriptions had practically ceased;
what, thln, was there left but a return OF
starvation, that powerful ally of masters all
the wcrld over?
But Sartwcll forgot that the Englishman
knows how to starye. No Indian ever tight
ems his belt another notch with grimmer de-
termination to compress hunger than an
Englishman sets his teeth and starves, IL
need be. He has starved on the ice near
the pole and under the burning sun in the
desert.
He has met famine face to face in be-
leasuercd fort with no thought of surrender,
and has doled with scrupulous exactitude the
insufficient portions of food on a raft in
mid-Ocoan. The poet has starved in his
garret, making no outcry, and the world
has said, ''lf 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
sIarye saying with the poet:
| have nor WINGED nor cried aloud.
When Gibbons heard what Marston had to
tell he promptly said 1T is a lie" but the |
committee looked one at 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 tEis?"
Certainly, if l find it is true; but | |
don't believe word of it. Perhaps you |
want the pleasure of being the bearer of |
bad news to the men"
II intend to tell them if you do not"
"Of course. I'm sorry we can't crafty |
you"
Tho committee dismissed Marsten and
went into secret session, shortly afterward |
separating to meet again in the evening
just before the large gathering in the Sal
walton hall. In the interview Gibbons and
his fellow members made active search for
tho alleged fraudulent wOrkmCn. but they
found none; the birds had flown. 1t was
evident that the word had been passed, and
that, fearing the vengeance OF the legiti-
pfn ~ 10 hn ttnin nm de 10
former 'blacltlegs" had taken themselves
off out CT the reach Of possible harm.
When the committee met for the second
time that day the members were divided |
among themselves as to the advisabilty OF
taking the men fully into their confidence.
Some thought it best TO break the doleful
news gradually; 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
tried any half measures, Marsten
would undoubtedly rise in his place and
relate what Sartwell had told him So the
whole truth and nothing but the truth was
resolved upon.
When Gibbons faced his audience that
night in the large hall, he saw that he had
to deal with a body of men whose mood
was totally different from that of the crowd
which lghtheartedly voted with hurrah to
go on strike. There was now little jocu-
larty amCng the men; they sat In their
places in sullen silence. \ feeling that
cminous was in the air seemed
to porvade the hall. and as Gibbons stepped
to the front of the platform he 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 a trine
impatient with much talk and such small
result from IL all.
Combination" he began, "is the natural
OF the modern conditions of la
Dor. A workingman OF today may be lili-