The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-01-30

& - ~ n
NJ ~ author OF The Workers -
" " " which has made double
MNA hit. FIRST as a ma gazine Sc
rial in Scrihner.s and now
in book form. sat at the
library table in his apartments at Prince
ton the other day and talked modestly CT
his success. Mr.. Wyckoff. by the way is
member Of the staff OF Princeton uni
versity, and lectures twice a week to the
seniors on sociology.
THE circumstances that led. incidental
~. TO the production of The Workers. -
said Mr. Wyckoff, are briefly described
In the preface. In 1891. three years afte.
i was graduated. l was spending the
summer vacation. along with some other
guests. at the country home OF "A friend
IN Connecticut. / was then looking for
ward TO the lectures am now delivering
and was naturally seeking every possible
source OF help i'll preparing myself for the
work There was one man among my
fellow guests with whom I had many dis
cussions regarding the wage-earning class
He had himself worked his way up from
the rank OF the wage-earners, and was
the first man of his type I had ever seen
i soon perceived that his grasp of the sub
jects We talked about was much stronger
than mine. He had PERSONAL and practi-
cal knowledge; he had learned by expe-
rience and contact. while l had only the
knowledge that may be gained from
books. One day he told me l ought 10 20
out and earn my own living with my own
hands before l allowed myself TO reach
settled convictions. / had never thought
of doing that. but / adopted the sugges-
ton without delay. A few days later as
l have told in my book, secured my first
job as a laborer at West Point. and with
two brief interruptions l earned my own
living the best way 1 could with my
hands all through the two years immeii-
ately following.
After a week OF tramping and odd
jobs | secured my first regular employ
ment at West Point and worked my way
To Chicago, remaining I'm each situation
| secured long enough to suit my double
purpose of learning something and earn
ing money enough to help me along on
my western way. / made elaborate and
voiuminous manuscript notes every day
These no.es / regularly sent on to New
York in order to have them typewriter
and 1 do not hesitate to say that they
have seemed OF great value TO me in pre-.
pairing my lectures. All of the material
OF THE Workers has been drawn from
these same notes, though. OF course l
have made use Of the most striking por-
tons"
Hard Up In Chicago.
1t should be understood that Mr.
Wyckoff actually confined his personal
expenditures to what he earned from the
beginning TO the end OF his experiment
and that enc OF the two Interruptions
mentioned was made necessary by the i'll
ness OF friend. while the other was
caused by wedding. AT no time during
the first few months OF his experience as
a tourneyman laborer, passed in the Last
and described In the volume already is
sued, was he unable 10 find work This
was OF course because he would take
whatever he could set. whether 1t were
digging a ditch, ''portering' at a sum
mer hotel or working In a lumber camp
But in the West he met with much hard
er conditions. The winter OF 1889 found
him in Chicago. and there he really suf-
fered from lack OF food
II shall never forget that experience"
he said 20 the writer. Il had picked up
travelling companion. sturdy, seif-re-
sepecting skilled workman who had never
before been out of employment We
agreed TO travel together anc To help one
another For The first time since begin
ming my travels was entirely out of
money, and so was he. We had 10 sieep
in police stations. That meant many
things. one of which you viii understand
when l explain that my partner lost
prospective job Just as he was about to
be taken on because the foreman saw
n.
There was no place for us TO wash our
hands and faces except on the lake front.
and we used 10 go there for that purpose
As the water was freezing cold. we had
no towels and could go nowhere TO warm
ourselves after washing. we had TO slap
our hands and rub Our necks and faces
violently 10 keep the skin from cfiapplng.
After going without food for nearly
forty eight hours and having failed 10 find
regular work. We set out one morning 10
look for odd Jobs. We were so weak from
hunger that ii was actually hard work 10
walk. As we made our applications in
the marketing district OF the city We
could see food all about US. and that d!d
not make eur suffeFings less acute From
place 10 place we went. everywhere re-
celving discouraging answers. Sometimes
they were couched in brutal terms. and
sometimes they we're given with evident
regret. but we had 10 get beyond caring
about mere words. Finally. just as We
were about TO give UP in despair a man
offered US 20 cents apiece TO load some
trucks with boxes OF oranges Fifty
cents. 1t seemed incredible, bu, IL was
true. We did the work and got the mon
sy. bat We were positively 50 weak that
IL took both Of Bs to lift ore box"
Born In India.
MF. wyckor Is OF good old colonial
stock As his family name indicates. ne
is Of Dutch descent on mis- fathers side,
tho arst Of the line III America ueiBg one
Peter Wyckoff, who came across the A.
lantic in 1881. Hts mother t. Of Eneilzn
descent She was born in Johnson. and
her family settled in Connecticut In the
middle of the seventeenth century
Nevertheless. the author of The Work
ers'' is not native Of America. His "a
Their and mother were sent "a missionaries
Or the Presbyterian church. and were To-
Gated AZ M4inpura. a garrison town IN
the northwest provinces H vas there
that Walter 4. Wyekof was born. on
April Il. Iss6. He IL therefore 3 years
old.
Il left india" said Ir. Wycko1. when
only 10 years old. bu- stiIi navs the most
vivid memories OF my life there If you
are properly familiar wlfh your Kiplng
you know that India IL divided into
plain ana hill country. Aainpusa II on
,he plain. whore the summer heat - in-
tense. where the cholera visits the native
quarters every year. ard whence u they
ean. tie whites always fee ia tls months