The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-19

& Hutchins Company on which the in
dividul arrangement with employees
is to so into effect, but as the individ-
uals are lacking, the execution of the
order is not likely to cause a profound
sensation.
The Spy man called at the Main street
home of Mrs. Robert Henderson, this
evening, to get her version Of the Mid
desex sttchers strike but Mrs. Hen
delson had a headache, such "A head
ache that she could not see him. at
least that was The information con-
veyed through crack in the door A
Woman's voice, it was, perhaps, Mrs.
Henderson's herself, who knows?
What is it?" asked the voice, as the
reporter rung the bell.
rs here where Mr.. Henderson lives?'
at is"
us Mrs, Henderson in"
"She isl
We'll, could see her?i'
who is it?"
II am from The Worcester Spy.
only wish to see her for very few
moments"
We'll, I'll see; and the sound Of re-
treating footsteps was heard mingled
with voices. Pretty soon the footsteps
returned and the voice announced.
Shes got a sick headache tonight and
can't see you"
Wei, won't you ask her again. I
wouldn't disturb her but a few min
utes."
Again the retreating footsteps. the
consultation, and then the voice an
nounced through the locked door,
She's got such a sick headache that
she can't see you"
Lafayette Stickney, about whom
there has been so much discussion Of
late, was seen by The Spy man. Mr..
stlekney said: Il worked IN the heel
department for Mr. Howe for three
years. Away back when the Knights Of
Labor existed they wanted me to ioin.
but I declined. When the shosmakers
organized their union, Phil Byrne came
10 me and asked me to join. 1 asked
MN for the bylaws, and after | had
looked them over / declined to Join
Ihey Kept at me to join, but I refused
and they threatened to call out the
other workmen. Finally I fixed a date
on which l would give Byrnes my de-
elslon. Before that time Murray came
up. lie was more pompous than Byrne
ana wanted my answer at once. His
manner angered me and l told him |
would not join. Then l stated the case
10 the superintendent and fixed on a
GATE to get through, for ! knew the
company would not stand behind me.
On the Saturday that I was to get
through, Byrne came up and ordered
uhe others out and they stayed out till
noon the following Monday.
When they say that l received the
Dement'S OF the organization and re-
fused to contribute to its support. it
isn't so, for [ offered to pay the dues.
IN regard to my asking the agent to
lhtercede for me to get into the union
| met Byrne on the street one day and
knowing that to hold job in the shoe
shops one must belong to the unions.
! asked him if he thought they would
plackball me, if 1 could get a job in the
shops. He said they had no grievance
against me and told me to send my
name IN. | told him ] should not do so
unless struck a job. and the matter
dropped. | got out of the shoe business
ana never sent in my mans.
Edward L. Bigelow, of the firm Of
Morse & Bigelow, is being talked of as
the candidate for mayor of the new
citizen workingmen's party. Mr.. Bige-
low is well known business man. He
can have the nomination if he wants
| it,
the strikers issued the following:
The communication of DR. Calvin of
the Emergency hospital, Boston. to one
of our local papers, is indeed another
Illustration of where a man can saw a
great deal and mean little, or. as Vol
tire once said: Men use thought only
as an authority for their Injustice and
employ speech only to conceal their
A hot
communication lot course our keenness
OF perception may be hmited) is, first,
strikes are failures; second the
practice Of centralizing authority in
one officer is especially unfortunate.
All the rest, eliminating the political
portion, is an endeavor to impress on
our minds that no man takes greater
interest In the welfare OF the wage
earners,' and mo man In the common
wealth has endeavored to do more for
their physical well being than he. All
of which may very likely be true, but
why he should single out the shoe
manufacturers organ in this city as
the medium through which he could
impart this important information to
the public is an enigma beyond our
limited ability to solve. II the doctor
would only investigate our methods of
doing business he would find that the
here. Our officers, as the public and
the manufacturers well know, have no
power to do other than as directed by
the union. He says he advised the
Brockton strikers to surrender because
they could never ultimately win against
machinery, wealth and the tacit agree
ment of the manufacturers. We high
ly appreciate the information conveyed
and assume it polite way OF conveying
the same advice to us particularly be-
cause of the interests which he mani
tests in our welfare. We confess that
we were ignorant of the doctors phil
anthropic interest in labor matters, but
it occurs to us that the Boot and Shoe
Club of Boston, of which William b.
Rice has been president, is a very lib
eral contributor TO the support Of the
emergency hospital, and we think that
the doctor delivered q speech before
that club not a long time ago.
n However, we don't believe that these
matters had anything to do with his
interest in the shoe strikes at Brock
ton and Marlboro. We will say to the
doctor that the conditions which sur
rounded the strike at Brockton are not
analogous to those which exist here.
The strike, or, more properly speaking,
the lockout here, is forced upon us. We
have always been ready to treat with
our employers in all matters which we
could not mutually agree upon, through
the medium of the state board of arbi-
tration, and are now. We presume the
doctor acquainted himself with the po-
sition Of the manufacturers before
writing his letter, their refusal to rec
ognize our right to belong to labor
organization while they themselves are
fighting us through the medium of one.
They employ their superintendent or
agents through whom they do all their
business with their employees, but deny
us that right. We tried every known
means of settlement, in order to avoid
this trouble. but could not avert it